US wire rod market – Buying activity remains quiet

Though the market is relatively weak, there have not been any price concessions for import or domestic wire rod offers in the past week because purchasing activity is so low. Some Chinese mills have been trying to get a $5 /nt to $10 /nt increase for their rod exports to the US for November shipments, as billet and rod prices in their home market have gone up, however, demand in the US is not strong enough for the market to accept the increase just yet. For now, the import wire rod pricing trend is still slightly down. Import mesh grade offers still range from $23.00 cwt. to $24.00 cwt. ($507 /mt to $529 /mt or $460 /nt to $480 /nt) FOB, loaded-truck, in US Gulf ports. Prices are approximately $1.00 cwt. ($22 /mt or $20 /nt) more on the West Coast. Import drawing quality rod prices still range from $25.00 cwt. to $26.00 cwt. ($551 /mt to to $573 /mt or $500 /nt to $520 /nt) FOB, loaded-truck, in US Gulf ports. License data from the US Steel Import Monitor shows that in the month of August 2006, China remained by far the largest exporter of wire rods to the US, at 102,214 mt; followed by Turkey, which exported 39,115 mt of wire rod to the US that month. Canada, Brazil, and Japan, were also major exporters of wire rod to the US in August, exporting 17,058 mt, 15,303 mt, and 8,777 mt, respectively. Domestic offers still range from $27.00 cwt. to $28.00 cwt. ($595 /mt to $617 /mt or $540 /nt to $560 /nt) FOB mill for low carbon, and from $30.00 cwt. to $32.00 cwt. ($661 /mt to $705 /mt or $600 /nt to $640 /nt) FOB mill for high carbon. Large buyers continue to negotiate better deals than the above numbers. As we anticipated last week, shredded scrap did rise by approximately $10 /nt last week, however, this is not a big enough change to affect finished product prices. For now, the domestic wire rod pricing trend remains neutral.