Aluminium scrap market price shows sign to increase around Tokyo. The dealers will offer higher price to the users at talk to set the price for first half of February when primary aluminium ingot price increases at London Metal Exchange. The local demand is still slow and the users’ appetite is low around Tokyo. A source said aluminium scrap could be oversupply in spring if the demand would keep slow.
The scrap dealers start the talk next week. A dealer said with the upward trend in aluminium market, the scrap could increase by 5 yen per kilogram for all grades. Japanese primary aluminium ingot price increased by 10 yen from the end of December to reflect higher LME price. However, other scrap dealer said the talk would result in same price level due to the slow demand. The high grade scrap demand is slow when the buyers of light metal rerollers keep the purchase volume low level. The rerollers increase import of lower priced primary aluminium. A trading firm source said the high grade scrap is completely buyers market when the rerollers don’t need high grade scrap. The low grade scrap demand also decreases. A major alloy maker around Tokyo seeks 90 yen per kg for alloy turning scrap, which is around 10 yen lower than current market price. A dealer said the low price indicate the alloy maker has no intention to purchase the scrap now. Other alloy makers also reduce the purchase volume when cheaper Chinese AD12.1 metal is available.