Although soft import rebar offers typically lead to an increase in interest and thus sales for US-based traders, many are concerned at the steadily-declining price trend for Turkish rebar. With offer prices down $0.50 cwt. ($10/nt or $11/mt) from last week, putting prices in the range of $28.75-$29.75 cwt. ($575-$595/nt or $634-$656/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, traders tell SteelOrbis that inquiry activity is robust, but they are currently overwhelmed with newly-arriving positions that were purchased when prices at the CFR level were almost $50/mt higher than they are now. Predictions in early April that offers from Turkey would dry up following the trade case ruling later that month proved false, and traders would much rather unload current inventory (as of June 24, monthly rebar arrivals from Turkey totaled just over 60,000 mt according to US import license data) than book futures at such low prices.
The US domestic market, meanwhile, is also suffering from the relentless competition from imports--spot prices are still stable at $34.25-$35.25 cwt. ($685-$705/nt or $755-$777/mt) ex-mill this week, but sources tell SteelOrbis that hardly anyone is paying the upper end of the range. Scrap prices are also still putting pressure on rebar prices, strengthening the likelihood of an official price decrease next month.