Aluminum scrap prices jump again as dealers pull out of market

Aluminum scrap tags continued to trek higher this week after some dealers pulled away from the market and buyers were forced to be more competitive on prices.

Smelter and mill grade scrap logged between 1- and 5-cent gains this week. Old sheet prices were particularly buoyant amid talk that an ingot maker supplying a large automotive company was in the market, offering to pay as much as 78 cents per pound, some 4 cents higher than the going price. Old sheet and cast prices were between 72 and 76 cents per pound this week, up from 71 to 74 cents last week.