US domestic copper scrap spreads narrowed on Tuesday amid decreasing scrap flows over the past two weeks, which resulted from weakness in the COMEX exchange market.
The spread for US Bare Bright copper scrap (Barley) delivered US consumer narrowed to 12.2¢/lb on Tuesday from last week’s rate of 14¢/lb under the next-active month COMEX contract. Spot pricing for bare bright settled at $2.445/lb Tuesday, up from last week’s price of $2.42/lb. The next-active month COMEX market decreased from $2.584/lb a week ago to $2.578/lb today.
Spreads for #1 copper (Berry/Candy) and #2 copper (Birch/Cliff) improved by roughly 1.5¢/lb to $0.22/lb and $0.39/lb, respectively, under COMEX. Spot pricing for both increased by around 2¢/lb from last week to $2.34/lb for #1 and $2.18/lb for #2 delivered US consumer.
Pricing for US copper exports is rising with consistent demand, particularly for #2 copper, as about 75pc of China has returned to work. However, the container shortage is preventing domestic #2 copper prices from increasing. Once the backlog of overseas containers are unloaded in China and returned, market participants expect copper prices to rebound.