Although Chinese wire rod positions are still available at the port, the flow is starting to constrict and traders expect it to dry up completely by mid-summer. As such, anyone looking for import arrivals in late summer and beyond with have to contend with Turkish offers, which are starting to trend upward. Already, offer prices are up $1.00 cwt. ($20/nt or $22/mt) in the last week to the range of $32.00-$33.00 cwt. ($640-$660/nt or $705-$727/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports. While interest in imports remains lackluster for now, Turkish offers are expected to remain firm, and traders say that once Chinese options are no longer available, US buyers will “have to get used to the higher prices or stick with domestics instead.”
For now, US domestic spot prices are not that much higher than import offers, still languishing in the wide range of $32.50-$34.00 cwt. ($650-$680/nt or $728-$761/mt) ex-mill. In the short term, prices could slip even further along with softening scrap prices. However, there’s no guarantee the trend will last, and sources tell SteelOrbis that anyone hedging that US domestics will still be a competitive option against Turkish arrivals in a few months would do well to remember how aggressive US domestic wire rod mills can be when they are set on firming prices.