US buying spreads for mill and extrusion grade aluminum scrap widened on Tuesday amid ample supply and forward deals for May.
Supply has outpaced demand due to higher scrap availability from the construction sector this month. Still demand has strengthened on healthy downstream consumption and mills, looking to benefit from the ample supply and wider spreads, have started booking volumes for May and could slowly draw down prices.
The weekly Davis Index spread for 1100 & 3003 clips weakened by 0.5¢/lb to 14.8¢/lb under the Midwest transaction price. Outright prices for the grade settled at $1.113/lb delivered US consumer, up by 1.7¢/lb. Segregated 5052 clips have started inching towards a similar price range on improving supply.
Spreads for mill-grade MLC widened by 0.8¢/lb to 36.8¢/lb under Midwest while the transaction price for the grade rose by 0.9¢/lb to 88.8¢/lb delivered. The spread for painted siding weakened by 3.1¢/lb to 38.6¢/lb under Midwest.
Weekly spreads for 6063 new bare extrusion widened by 0.3¢/lb to 8.3¢/lb under Midwest while the grade’s transaction prices indexed at $1.173/lb delivered US consumer, up by 1.4¢/lb.
The official LME Aluminium cash price settled Tuesday at a new annual high of $2,078/mt, up by $31/mt from Apr 6.