As predicted last week, US domestic wire rod mills have largely eliminated deals falling beneath the spot price range after scrap prices settled sideways. Sources report buying activity is currently “the slowest it’s been all summer,” and as such mills are not seeing much pushback against firmer prices, but once activity picks up next month, buyers could leverage low import prices in their negotiations with mills, even if scrap prices maintain a neutral trend.
At that point, wire rod import position availability will likely be low (already, August import permit totals are far below July’s), but future order prices are still a few dollars underneath domestic offers and sources are unsure how much wider the margin will be in a month. For now, the few buyers in the US wire rod market in need of supplies are sticking with domestic mills, with spot prices still hovering the range of $25.25-$26.25 cwt. ($505-$525/nt or $556-$578/mt) ex-mill—unchanged in the last week.