As we’ve heard a lot about driverless cars lately — both at the Aluminum Association’s annual meeting and in articles such as these — it looks as though there’s some good short-term news for metal-buying departments at automotive OEMs, as several prices drop this week.

A 2.2 percent decline made the price of US HDG steel as the week’s biggest mover, continuing a downward trend on the weekly Automotive MMI® that has stretched over five weeks.

Lead Price Drops…Like Lead

The price of Chinese lead closed the week with a 0.3 percent decrease.

Dr. Copper, Come On Down!

Since last week, the price of the copper 3-month price fell to $8,112 per metric ton on the LME after moving 0.2 percent. On the LME, the cash price of primary copper remained steady from the previous week at $8,120 per metric ton.

Light, Gray Lady Keeps Even Footing

Prices for Korean 5052 coil premium over 1050 aluminum sheet remained constant.

Parsing the PGMs

The price of US palladium bar rose 0.8 percent after falling 0.8 percent during the previous week, while the price of US platinum bar declined 0.4 percent over the past week.

Image source: The Economist

The Automotive MMI® collects and weights 7 metal price points used in automotive production to provide a unique view into automotive metal trends. For more information on the Automotive MMI®, how it’s calculated or how your company can use the index, please drop us a note at: info (at) agmetalminer (dot) com.