Baled and densified cans will now demand £500 per tonne (formerly £400) and loose cans will demand £450 per tonne (formerly £350) when they are delivered to one of Novelis' regional aggregation centres.
The price rise comes after six consecutive price cuts in the amount the company offers since prices peaked in August 2008, and is believed to reflect a small increase in global market prices.
The rise is expected to be warmly welcomed by councils and waste management firms who have seen their profits squeezed over recent months by falling prices for many core recovered materials due to the recession. However, it is thought too early to say if it represents a green shoot of recovery.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com today (April 9) about the increase, the company's recycling manager, Andy Doran, explained: “We are reacting and following market prices and there's been a small in increase in global market prices.”
He added that the increase also reflected the fact that “demand's still good at Latchford”, the company's can recycling plant near Warrington in Cheshire.
However, Mr Doran would not comment on the future prospects for the market, and whether he believed this month's price rise signalled the start of an upward curve.
Steel cans
The good news for aluminium prices has been accompanied by some positive price indications in the steel can sector, which was badly hit by steel giant Corus shutting its doors to steel cans for recycling late last year, after the price it offered for the material dropped to zero (see letsrecycle.com story).
Speaking to letsrecycle.com this week, David Williams, the manager of Corus Steel Packaging Recycling, confirmed that, while the steel giant was still not buying any scrap, “some people are buying cans”, adding that “we are hearing prices of £30-90 [per tonne] for cans.
“We are not having any local authorities kicking us down so they have to be going somewhere,” he explained.
Corus revealed in December 2008 that it was no longer accepting any steel scrap (see letsrecycle.com story), and Mr Williams revealed “there has been no change and we will wait and see what happens. We have seen no pick up in the last few weeks.”
However, he added that: “I still think we are looking at buying scrap in quarter 3”, adding that “I think the scrap price for non-can grades is reasonably buoyant”.
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