Although it seemed that Turkish mills would return from their holiday with a wire rod price increase, relatively neutral scrap prices have kept import prices stable this week.
Uncertain of how Turkish wire rod mills' scrap purchasing activity would shape up after returning from the last week of Ramadan, US traders previously told SteelOrbis that an increase in wire rod prices was very likely. However, the post-holiday scrap purchases made by Turkish mills did not register a notable price increase, therefore there was no reason to raise wire rod prices in turn. As such, import offers of Turkish wire rod to the US have remained in last week's level of $37.25-$37.75 cwt. ($821-$832/mt or $745-$755/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.
The neutral move was probably for the best, considering the low desirability for imports in the domestic US wire rod market. In the face of continuously weak demand, US mills are still pushing to keep spot prices from faltering; and while they have been mostly successful in the last week, the stability can also be attributed to a slow work week in the run-up to the Labor Day holiday and long weekend. Now that everyone is back to work, mills are expected to keep a tight grip on spot prices while anticipating the direction shredded scrap pricing will take this month; a slight increase, as some predict, will be favorable to mill efforts, but a neutral scrap trend could impose some involuntary flexibility in wire rod spot pricing.
For now, US domestic wire rod prices remain in the range of $36.75-$37.75 cwt. ($810-$832/mt or $735-$755/nt) ex-Midwest mill, with reports still indicating that a few deals (for large tonnage and otherwise exceptional customers) are still being heard of just underneath the range.