Although all major mills have caught up with Nucor’s $0.75 cwt. ($15/nt or $17/mt) price increase for wire rod, effective with shipments as of August 1--except Keystone, which reportedly only raised prices by $0.50 cwt. ($10/nt or $11/mt)--sources say spot prices will not increase immediately, or even consistently. Larger buyers with “more pull” might get away with a fraction of the increase, if any, sources tell SteelOrbis. Meanwhile, mills will likely “put the squeeze” on smaller buyers, pushing for the whole $0.75 cwt. However, even in those cases, sources are skeptical of how effective mills will be in pushing up the trend for US domestic wire rod when imports are still attractive and demand is still lackluster. For now, at least, spot prices are unchanged at $32.50-$33.50 cwt. ($650-$670/nt or $717-$739/mt) ex-mill, although by next week it should be clearer how aggressive mills are willing to get.
As for imports, lower offer prices from Turkey have been heard in the market, but it’s not clear yet whether that is indicative of an overall trend, or if Turkish mills are just trying to “drum up interest” after a long period of weak orders. Traders tell SteelOrbis that they’re keeping their offer prices to US customers stable for now, to not introduce needless fluctuation in the market, and so Turkish wire rod is still available--for now--at $32.00-$33.00 cwt. ($640-$660/nt or $705-$727/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.