As if the annual slowdown in buying activity wasn’t enough to lower sentiment within the US domestic rebar market, another month of lower scrap prices and a rising tide of imports have placed it firmly in “bearish” territory. Sources tell SteelOrbis that they expected the market to trend light this month, but things are “worse than expected” and many are scrambling to keep hold of their already-thin margins.
However, it doesn’t appear for now that US domestic rebar mills will respond to market conditions with an official price decrease. For now, they are reportedly “freely cutting deals” enough to erode the top end of the general spot price range, by about $0.50 cwt. ($10/nt or $11/mt). As such, spot prices are now ranging from $27.50-$30.50 cwt. ($550-$630/nt or $606-$673/mt) ex-mill, with a strong likelihood that the range will narrow further next week.