As Turkish wire rod mills push for higher prices, US buyers have turned their attention to domestic mills, which are finding less difficulty maintaining current spot price levels.
Turkish wire rod mills are aggressively pushing for higher import offers to the US--in the last week, prices have increased again by $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt), bringing offers into the range of $37.00-$38.00 cwt. ($816-$838/mt or $740-$760/nt) duty paid FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. However, there is not overwhelming interest in such price levels, and sources tell SteelOrbis that there is little chance they will stick--especially considering that US domestic spot prices for wire rod are only marginally higher.
Helped in part by uncompetitive import offers, prices have remained stable in the US domestic wire rod market this week, with spot prices still ranging from $37.50-$38.50 cwt. ($827-$849/mt or $750-$770/nt) ex-Midwest mill. In fact, most transactions are concluding right in the middle of the range, at $38.00 cwt. Demand for wire rod is currently decent, and some of the resistance to the higher end of the spot range (reported last week) has seemed to ease up a bit.
However, many in the industry are apprehensive about scrap pricing in May. While it has seemed in recent weeks that the US scrap export market could theoretically push up prices for domestic shredded scrap next month, more and more sources report that a sideways trend is much more likely. There is even speculation blooming of a slight downtrend, which would undoubtedly put pressure on US domestic wire rod prices. Sources tell SteelOrbis that on the chance shredded scrap pricing goes down in May, US wire rod prices will have no choice but to follow.
