Weekly round-up: Non-ferrous scrap prices show positive trends

Domestic base metals prices saw positive trends this week, rising by up to 2% w-o-w, as per Steelmint assessment.

All non-ferrous metals prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) were volatile. However, aluminium, nickel and lead fell by up to 6.6% even as prices of other metals rose by up to 2.6%.

The dollar index, which gauges the value of the dollar in a basket of six different currencies, hovered around 103.91, up slightly by 0.30 against last week.

Ukraine’s economy shrank by 30.4% in 2022 

Ukraine’s gross domestic product fell by 30.4% in 2022 according to a preliminary estimate, The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had estimated that Ukraine’s economy would shrink 35% in 2022 following the country’s invasion by Russia that started in February last year.

Price picture

• Aluminium prices up marginally 

Domestic aluminium tense scrap prices rose slightly by 2% w-o-w at INR 154,000/t exy-Delhi. Notably, aluminium stocks in LME warehouses witnessed a sharp fall of 21,775 t w-o-w.

The aluminium scrap market saw supply shortage in the week owing to rising prices after remaining firm for a few weeks. Another factor supporting prices was the price hike by Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest consumer of aluminium alloys, which announced a hike in prices of ADC12 ingots used to make automobile components. Prices may remain suppported in the near term, Steelmint understands.

• Copper prices trend higher

Domestic copper armature scrap prices rose by 1% w-o-w to INR 644,000/t ($7,827/t) exy-Delhi.

Prices of secondary wires rose by 0.9% to INR 693,000/t w-o-w ($8,423/t), while primary wire rod prices edged up by 0.6% to INR 745,000/t ($9,055/t) exw-Delhi yesterday.

Domestic special high-grade (SHG) zinc ingots prices remained stable on slow demand in the domestic market at INR 277,000/t ($3,367/t) exw-Delhi. In addition, domestic re-melted lead ingots and refined lead ingots prices rose slightly by up to 0.9% w-o-w.