Rising scrap prices in Turkey has led to an overall uptrend in finished steel prices, and while US buyers of wire rod imports from Turkey resisted higher prices as of last week, sources say this week buyers have “no choice” but to book at higher prices. And with all signs pointing to a sustained uptrend, traders are reportedly holding firm on new price levels and fully incorporating the increases into their sales prices to US buyers.
As such, Turkish offers of imported product in the US domestic market are up this week to a range of $23.00-$24.00 cwt. ($460-$480/nt or $507-$529/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, reflecting a $2.00 cwt. ($40/nt or $44/mt) increase from prices reported a week ago. However, some of the increase is attributed to “catching up” from previous increases.
Additionally, sources are also reporting offers from Italy at about $0.50 cwt. ($10/nt or $11/mt) less than Turkish offers, which are starting to garner “substantial” inquiry activity despite the overall lackluster demand situation in the US wire rod market. While Italy is not a consistent source of imported wire rod in the US, import license data show 10,337 mt in import permits from Italy in January, exceeding Turkey’s import permit total of 8,725 mt for the month.