Weekly spreads for US domestic copper scrap grades were rangebound in an inactive market even as Comex copper touched its highest point since 2011.
Comex spot copper breached highs last seen a decade ago to close at $4.09/lb on Feb 23, surging by 27¢/lb from its close of $3.82/lb on Feb 16.
The Davis Index spread for US bare bright copper scrap (barley) widened by 1.3¢/lb to 15.7¢/lb under the February Comex contract on Tuesday, sending the transaction price for bare bright soaring by 28.8¢/lb to $3.933/lb delivered US consumer.
Spreads for #1 copper wire & tube settled at 25.4¢/lb under the February Comex contract, tighter by 0.3¢/lb, with the weekly transaction price for the grade increasing by 31¢/lb to $3.84/lb delivered.
For #2 light copper, spreads widened by 0.1¢/lb to 48.5¢/lb under the February Comex contract while the transaction price increased by 19.6¢/lb to $3.60/lb delivered US consumer.
Transportation remains affected due to last week’s winter storms across the US, and has impacted scrap flows and restricted activity in the domestic copper scrap market. Market participants expect trade to remain sluggish until the transportation issues are resolved, and buyers re-enter the market in March.