Producers of US secondary aluminum alloys are struggling to reach the 70¢/lb-mark as they push for higher prices in an uncertain market.
The latest offers for A380.1 increased by a penny, but still fell short by 2¢ from hitting the target price of 70¢/lb. The weekly Davis Index for A380.1 increased in tandem to 68¢/lb on Friday on confirmed deals at this price during the week. The Davis Index for A319.1 remained flat at 74¢/lb, while the indexes for A360.1 and A413.1 were unchanged from last week at 84¢/lb each.
The effect of the coronavirus outbreak has been working its way through all segments of global businesses, including secondary aluminum alloys. Supply, demand, logistics, and production have been impacted to some degree, with new information coming to light every day. Decision-makers struggle to choose a way forward when many variables come into play, and those fluctuations are changing much quicker than they have in the past.
The three-month LME aluminum contract closed on Friday at 77.61¢/lb, down slightly from 78.06/lb on Feb 14.