With purchasing activity for US import rebar starting to pick up, sources tell SteelOrbis that Turkish mills are attempting to firm offers by up to $20/mt on the CFR level. However, traders are skeptical of the market being able to support such an increase, and report that recent transactions have been booked no more than $10/mt from last week’s offer range.
As such, imported rebar in the US domestic market from Turkey is now being sold in the range of $18.75-$19.75 cwt. ($375-$395/nt or $413-$435/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports—reflecting an increase of $0.50 cwt. ($10/nt or $11/mt) from price levels last week. As for positions, arrival levels for October (as of Oct. 18) have only reached 46,774 mt from Turkey, far beneath import permit totals of 104,032 mt from September, indicating less availability as the market moves into the last quarter of the year.