US domestic wire rod prices were already under enough pressure from tepid demand and dropping import prices, but now that the consensus for June scrap predictions is pointing to a slight downtrend (some still think a sideways move is possible, but it's becoming less probable), sources say the current spot range is on its last legs. Even a slight scrap drop in the range of $10-$15/lt (as expected) will have an impact on US wire rod spot prices whether mills officially drop transaction prices or not. Considering the other aforementioned pressures, it would not be unheard of for spots to fall by up to $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) or more. For this holiday-shortened week, at least, US domestic spot prices remain unchanged in the range of $33.50-$34.00 cwt. ($739-$750/mt or $670-$680/nt) ex-mill, with some larger customers still booking as low as $33.00 cwt. ($728/mt or $660/nt) ex-mill.
As for imports, offer prices from Turkey have stabilized after dropping a week ago, while Chinese offers have dropped by about $0.25 cwt. ($5.50/mt or $5/nt), although traders report that the typically steady stream of inquiries into Chinese offers has slowed despite the decrease. While this could be attributed to the holiday, some sources say that buyers are waiting to see how low US domestic wire rod prices will go before gambling on future orders. Until anything changes, then, wire rod offer prices from China can now be found between $28.75-$29.75 cwt. ($634-$656/mt or $575-$595/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, while offers from Turkey are still in the range of $30.00-$31.00 cwt. ($661-$683/mt or $600-$620/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.