After spreading a “silent” increase early last week that brought US domestic rebar spot prices up by an average of $0.75 cwt. ($15/nt or $17/mt), Gerdau released an “official” increase of $1.00 cwt. ($20/nt or $22/mt) for June shipments. Sources tell SteelOrbis that Gerdau is not pushing for the increase early, but they are “coincidentally” out of several rebar sizes until the end of this month. A similar increase is expected from Nucor and others within a week, and little resistance is expected in pushing that increase through. Until then, the general spot range is unchanged at $34.25-$35.25 cwt. ($685-$705/nt or $755-$777/mt ex-mill, although sources confirm that most transactions are taking place at the higher end of the range, if not $0.25 cwt. ($5/nt or $5.50/mt) above to account for the largest of the silent increase amounts.
As for imports, Turkish mills are holding the line with their offers for now, with sales prices in the US unchanged at $29.50-$30.50 cwt. ($590-$610/nt or $650-$672/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports. However, some traders have indicated that Turkish mills are keeping a sharp eye on US domestic trends, and if it appears that customers are solidly amenable to the uptrend, they might raise their own offers in turn.