After doing away with the monthly raw materials surcharge letters last year, Nucor has been sending out sporadic missives each month declaring the price movement of rebar and other long products in a strategy to divorce the scrap trend from their pricing policies. However, sources tell SteelOrbis that Nucor will now only send out letters when prices actually change, leaving customers hanging when other mills declare a neutral trend, as Gerdau did late last week. While Nucor disclosed to customers privately that they would follow Gerdau’s lead, leaving the US domestic rebar spot range at $33.50-$34.50 cwt. ($670-$690/nt or $739-$760/mt) ex-mill, many wonder if the lack of an announcement means Nucor can offer deals to certain customers without violating any sort of official promise of sideways prices.
As for imports, traders tell SteelOrbis that Turkish mills have adopted a “to hell with everything” attitude regarding the US rebar import market, and they are still aggressively offering in the range of $29.50-$30.50 cwt. ($590-$610/nt or $650-$672/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Mexican mills, meanwhile, are just as eager for orders, but they are reportedly less optimistic about the upcoming trade case ruling--while many believe Turkish mills will receive a slap on the wrist, Mexican mills are expected to be slapped with prohibitively high margins. Therefore, Mexican rebar offers are unchanged in the range of $32.00-$33.00 cwt. ($640-$660/nt or $705-$728/mt) FOB loaded rail car.