US spreads for mill grade aluminum scrap widened on Tuesday on surging LME Aluminium prices.
The LME Aluminum cash price has peaked at $1.057/lb over the past week, the highest in two years. Still, the physical market is well balanced with adequate scrap supply and robust demand and deals are being reported for June at marginally wider spreads. Most mills are stocking up since scrap is flowing well at current prices. However, extrusion grades spreads narrowed as scrap remained extremely tight.
The weekly Davis Index spread for 1100 & 3003 clips widened by 1.5¢/lb to 16.3¢/lb under the Midwest transaction price. Outright prices for the grade settled at $1.128/lb delivered US consumer, up by 1.5¢/lb.
Spreads for mill-grade MLC also widened by 1.5¢/lb to 38.3¢/lb under Midwest while transaction price for the grade rose by 2¢/lb to 90.8¢/lb delivered. The spread for painted siding widened by 1.9¢/lb to 40.5¢/lb under Midwest.
The weekly spread for 6063 new, bare extrusion tightened by 0.8¢/lb to 7.5¢/lb under Midwest. The outright price for the grade increased by 4.3¢/lb to $1.216/lb delivered US consumer. Still, some buyers were willing to pay up to 5-6¢/lb under Midwest as supply is tight and 6063 billet inventories have dried up.
The official LME Aluminium cash price settled Tuesday at $2,324/mt ($1.054/lb), up by $46/mt from Apr 13.