Lingering demand from Asia caused prices for some aluminium scrap grades in the United States to climb again this past week despite the Lunar New Year holiday, celebrated January 24-30.
"Export is very strong right now and that's impacting what's available domestically. You have consumers like us who are trying to buy scrap, and the price is really high," one US-based consumer said.Particular interest in remelt scrap ingot (RSI) grades has helped to increase the Fastmarkets 1-1-3 sows buying price, delivered Midwest secondary smelters, to its highest level since mid-August 2019. The price was assessed at 42-45 cents per lb on Thursday January 23, up from 40-43 cents per lb on January 16."We sold some export RSI at 61 and 62 cents [per lb] with only 3 cents for freight," the consumer source noted.Aluminium scrap prices in the US have been on an upward trajectory since at least the beginning of the year while volumes heading to Asia have remained strong.Of the 153,056 tons of aluminium scrap the US exported in November, 114,225 tons - or 74.6% - were headed...