Now that the February 1 effective date for the US domestic wire rod increase has passed, it is clear that most buyers are not paying the $1.50 cwt. ($30/nt or $33/mt) boost in prices. Sources tell SteelOrbis that wire rod mills were hoping for another increase in scrap prices this month—two consecutive months of a scrap uptrend would have given mills leverage to push at least a portion of the increase through, but another sideways scrap trend this month has squashed those plans. Spotty reports have surfaced of small to medium wire buyers paying a portion of the increase, but overall the general spot range is unmoved at $25.00-$26.00 cwt. ($500-$520/nt or $551-$573/mt) ex-mill.
As for the import market, offers from Turkey are also unchanged in the range of $18.25-$19.25 cwt. ($365-$385/nt or $402-$424/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, however pressure from scrap in the Turkish market has made offers vulnerable, with many traders confident they can push for lower prices if they want to. However, demand for future import wire rod orders is slack at the moment, so there is no rush to make deals.