Aluminium imported scrap prices fetched healthy overseas offers and moved by up to $60/t on a w-o-w basis, SteelMint’s assessment shows.
Despite the weekly uptrend, spot prices as well as futures across major exchanges like the London Metal Exchange (LME), Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Multi-commodity Exchange of India (MCX), except for Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), showed only marginal gains on a d-o-d basis today.
However, LME futures and spot prices exhibited positive movements, rising by over $80/t on a weekly basis, reveals data maintained with SteelMint.
Notably, aluminium stocks at registered LME warehouses have constantly depleted since the past week and are down by 570,775 t or 2.26% w-o-w.
SteelMint, speaking to market channels, learnt that there has been considerable price variations between origin to final destinations. At times, both locations have even diverged among trade participants, depending upon their stocks levels, futures bookings, quantities etc.
For instance, offers for Middle East-origin aluminium tense scrap with 4-5% Fe attachment have varied by around $40/t among various shippers, and buyers bids parallelly maintained a difference of $40-50/t on the western and southern coasts.
Further, one of the importers based in the western region preferred to import rather than procure domestically. He said that a few deals have been concluded but sellers restrained from adjusting the offers amid a slight correction in LME futures, specifically from the UAE.
On the contrary, a trader from the UK, who is also a direct exporter, said that the local market is competitive due to slow scrap accumulation along with regular changes in the currency value which is keeping a few other sellers focused on the local trades.
US-based exporters offered a few lots but the bids from Indian importers particularly — from the northern region — are quite mismatched as they have some previous stocks which are either in transit or yet to be cleared from ports. Thus Indian importers were less active during the current buying as the average LME three-month prices contracted by $150-200/t, as informed one of the Indian agents.
Current overseas aluminium scrap offers to the Indian western coast moved up by up to $60/t on a w-o-w basis and tense prices were recorded at $1,700/t, taint tabor at $2,010/t, and Zorba at $1,800/t, excluding all taxes, SteelMint assessment shows.
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