After the latest “moderate” transaction price increase within the US domestic rebar market, most customers are still paying around $32.50-$34.00 cwt. ($650-$680/nt or $717-$750/mt) ex-mill, unchanged from last week. However, sources tell SteelOrbis that the availability of deals beneath the range has increased slightly, with some large distributors booking orders for closer to $31.00 cwt. ($620/nt or $683/mt) ex-mill.
The shift in US mills’ recent determination to keep prices firm is attributed to predictions for the scrap market in April, which have moved from a sideways expectation to slightly down in recent days. Additionally, the strong upward trend in import rebar offers from Turkey seemed to reach its pinnacle last week, and the prospect of softer import prices has led mills to be more flexible with their largest customers.
However, sources tell SteelOrbis that such flexibility could be a temporary situation, and unless something unexpected happens with scrap—like a major downtrend in settled shredded prices—it is “highly unlikely” that mills will extend that flexibility to the rest of their customer base.