Although wire rod offers from Turkey on the CFR level have not changed this week, traders are reportedly eager to book orders and have maintained flexibility with their sales price range. Over the last week, offer prices have been heard as low as $23.00-$24.00 cwt. ($460-$480/nt or $507-$529/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, reflecting a decline of $0.75 cwt. ($15/nt or $17/mt) since our last report a week ago. But with actual booking activity still tepid, sources aren’t certain how long that range will last.
At the very least, traders have the advantage of low position supply at US ports—while overall import permit totals reached around 135,000 mt in May, June permit totals from last month’s major sources like Ukraine, Russia and Brazil are still at zero (as of June 7). With less concern for clearing out port inventory, traders will likely be able to maintain current flexibility with offers in the near term, especially if domestic wire rod prices remain soft.