The price of domestic Mexican wire rod increased US$30/mt-ex mill during the last three weeks, to reach $697/mt ex-mill.
After a lackluster period for wire rod, it seems that domestic producers are beginning to see the light. On the one hand, the construction industry was the only industrial sector which registered a record growth of 3.01 percent in March, the highest in almost six years.
Secondly, producers are optimistic about the Tuesday ruling from the US Department of Commerce, which dropped Deacero’s anti-dumping margins for wire rod exported to the US from 12.08 percent to 2.13 percent, effectively re-opening the US market to Mexican wire rod producers.
However, some sources are wary of a positive assessment of the wire rod market, claiming that both circumstances are temporary. “The monthly result of the construction sector is due to the electoral process in the country,” one source told SteelOrbis. “Surplus levels are reduced slightly in the domestic market, so it may be that the main trading partner will also see reductions in exports of Mexican wire rod and better prices.”