US buying spreads for mill and extrusion grade scrap narrowed on Tuesday amid tight supply.
Strong demand for production scrap due to increased downstream product requirement has tightened aluminum scrap spreads this week, though some forward deals for May are being heard at wider spreads.
Spreads for the extrusion grades have trended flat after strengthening last week due to an extremely limited supply of 6063 billet.
The weekly Davis Index spread for 1100 & 3003 clips narrowed by 2.3¢/lb to 14.3¢/lb under the Midwest transaction price. The transaction prices for the grade rose by 4.9¢/lb to $1.096/lb delivered US consumer.
Spreads for mill-grade MLC tightened by 1.6¢/lb to 36¢/lb under Midwest while transaction prices for the grade increased by 4.2¢/lb to 87.9¢/lb delivered US consumer.
The weekly spread for 6063 new bare extrusion widened by 0.4¢/lb to 8¢/lb under Midwest. The index for the grade rose by 2.2¢/lb to $1.159/lb delivered US consumer.
The official LME Aluminum cash price settled Tuesday at $2,247/mt ($1.02/lb), up by $27/mt from Mar 30.