While some US domestic wire rod mills are reportedly full through the next couple months, others are still short on orders in a lackluster demand environment and have been cutting deals more often, according to sources. Spot prices are now in the range of $36.00-$37.00 cwt. ($794-$816/mt or $720-$740/nt) ex-mill, reflecting a decrease of $1.00 ($22/mt or $20/nt) in the last two weeks, and despite the downtrend being tied to a neutral-to-weak scrap market over the last few months, it is not likely that a slight uptrend in shredded scrap prices this month (as is currently predicted) will do much to firm up wire rod spots.
This can be partially blamed on the demand situation in the US, but soon-to-arrive shipments of Chinese wire rod are also making mills nervous, sources tell SteelOrbis, and thus more susceptible to customer negotiation. As for future import orders, Chinese offer prices are still in the range of $33.50-$34.50 cwt. ($739-$761/mt or $670-$690/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports--unchanged from two weeks ago. Turkish wire rod offer prices, meanwhile, have dropped by approximately $0.25 cwt. ($5.50/mt or $5/nt) to the range of $33.75-$34.75 cwt. ($744-$766/mt or $675-$695/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, although the range is still not low enough to garner significant interest. Traders tell SteelOrbis that Turkish mills will have to drop prices even lower if they want orders from the US, and it's only a matter of time before they do.