Proposal to amend methodology for North American non-ferrous scrap dealer buying prices, delist certain grades

The planned update to these prices includes a proposal to revise the existing methodology for the non-ferrous dealer buying assessments for copper, aluminium, lead and zinc scrap in the US and Canada.

Fastmarkets plans to base its assessments of these markets on a weighted average of the various inputs received during the fortnightly pricing sessions, replacing the current use of a calculated median for each assessed region.

Prices collected from publicly available sources, such as online platforms and distributed documents, will receive lesser weighting than prices obtained via direct contact with non-ferrous scrap market participants.

Fastmarkets also plans to discontinue several grades of non-ferrous scrap dealer buying assessments in Toronto and Montreal that market participants have identified as outdated.

A 30-day consultation period for this proposal will start on Tuesday July 30 and end on Thursday August 29, with an update to this proposal published on that day.

The proposed adjustment to the assessment calculations and removal of select markets will then take place, subject to market feedback, on Monday September 2, 2024.

The following scrap grades currently assessed in Toronto and Montreal are proposed for discontinuation:

Toronto
MB-CU-0042 Copper scrap light copper, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Toronto, Canadian cents/lb
MB-CU-0058 Copper scrap red brass solids, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Toronto, Canadian cents/lb
MB-CU-0074 Copper scrap red brass turnings, borings, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Toronto, Canadian cents/lb
MB-CU-0136 Copper scrap mixed yellow brass turnings, borings, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Toronto, Canadian cents/lb
MB-AL-0070 Aluminum scrap mixed low copper clips, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Toronto, Canadian cents/lb

Montreal
MB-CU-0041 Copper scrap light copper, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Montreal, Canadian cents/lb
MB-CU-0057 Copper scrap red brass solids, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Montreal, Canadian cents/lb
MB-CU-0073 Copper scrap red brass turnings, borings, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Montreal, Canadian cents/lb
MB-CU-0135 Copper scrap mixed yellow brass turnings, borings, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Montreal, Canadian cents/lb
MB-CU-0181 Copper scrap 70-30 brass clips, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Montreal, Canadian cents/lb
MB-CU-0196 Copper scrap auto radiators (unsweated), dealer buying price, delivered to yard Montreal, Canadian cents/lb
MB-AL-0053 Aluminum scrap segregated low copper clips, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Montreal, Canadian cents/lb
MB-PB-0033 Lead scrap undrained whole batteries, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Montreal, Canadian cents/lb
MB-ZN-0050 Zinc scrap old zinc, dealer buying price, delivered to yard Montreal, Canadian cents/lb

The following scrap grades, currently assessed across multiple cities in the US and Canada, have been proposed for recalculation:

Copper scrap
Location: US/Canada, specified city, delivered to yard
Unit: US cents per lb (Canadian cities prices are in local currency)
For Quality and ISRI code: consult Fastmarkets’ methodology for specific quality specifications

• No1 heavy copper and wire
• No2 heavy copper and wire
• Light copper
• Red brass solids
• Red brass turnings, borings
• Yellow brass solids
• Mixed yellow brass turnings, borings
• 70-30 brass clips
• Auto radiators (unsweated)

Aluminium scrap
Location: US/Canada, specified city, delivered to yard
Unit: US cents per lb (Canadian cities prices are in local currency)
For Quality and ISRI code: consult Fastmarkets’ methodology for specific quality specifications

• Segregated low-copper alloy clips
• Mixed low-copper alloy clips
• Mixed clips
• Aluminium borings, turnings, clean and dry
• Old aluminium, sheet and cast
• Used beverage cans, clean and dry
• Industrial castings
• 63S aluminium solids
• Painted aluminium siding
• Litho sheets

Lead, zinc scrap
Location: US/Canada, specified city, delivered to yard
Unit: US cents per lb (Canadian cities prices are in local currency)
For Quality and ISRI code: consult Fastmarkets’ methodology for specific quality specifications

• Heavy soft lead
• Undrained, whole old batteries
• Old zinc scrap

These prices form part of Fastmarkets’ scrap package.

To provide feedback on these prices, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to the non-ferrous city scrap assessments, please contact Geoff Mattson at pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading: “FAO: Geoff Mattson, re: Non-ferrous city scrap prices.”

To see all of Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology