India: Imported aluminium scrap market shows downtrend w-o-w on falling futures

The Indian market for imported aluminium scrap has recently seen a downward trend in prices driven by a fall in futures despite the limited availability of the material. Prices of all grades of aluminium scrap significantly decreased by up to $140/t w-o-w.

As per BigMint's assessment, tense scrap, Middle East-origin specifically from the UAE, has decreased by $20/t to $1,700/t. Meanwhile, scrap prices from the US have dropped by $15/t, currently standing at $1,760/t, w-o-w.

Moreover, the bid-offer dynamics for certain scrap grades exhibit inconsistencies, introducing an element of uncertainty into the market, Market participants are in wait-and-watch mode, sources conveyed to BigMint.

The three-month futures for aluminium are at $2,218/t, down by $50-60/t w-o-w. Aluminium inventories in LME warehouses closed at 531,175 t (down 1.2% w-o-w).

Talk scrap from the Middle East and the US have decreased by up to $140/t. This fall was due to the recent decrease in copper's three-month LME cash prices. Currently, copper LME prices are hovering at $8,373/t, down $240-$250/t w-o-w.

China-origin silicon 553 prices are at around $2,070/t CIF Mundra, down $40/t.

It is anticipated that silicon prices will remain stable from this week until 16 February due to the Lunar New Year.

Domestic market

In the domestic space, scarcity of raw materials, particularly tense scrap, has kept prices on the higher side. Tense scrap prices are at INR 166,000/t, while utensil scrap prices are at INR 167,000/t exy-Delhi (excluding GST).

Recently, a major automobile company announced its monthly settlement price for ADC12, which increased by INR 8,500/t to INR 199,500/t for February 2024, which has been absorbed in the market this week making alloy ingot prices to rise to INR 204,000-205,000/t recently in the northern region, excluding GST.

Recent deals

South America origin taint tabor HRB 3% was sold at $1,785-1,790/t around 100 t to CIF Chennai and Mundra. recently.

USA origin aluminium talk was heard traded at 53% of LME 3M, 40-45 t CIF Mundra.