Demand levels in the US domestic wire rod market have not shifted much in the last week, but consistent large arrivals of imported wire rod—of which a good portion is positions, according to trader sources—are putting pressure on spot prices. This week, the spot range has declined by $0.25 cwt. ($5/nt or $5.50/mt), with most transactions now between $24.00-$25.00 ($480-$500/nt or $527-$549/mt) ex-mill.
According to US import license data as of October 26, just over 113,000 mt of imported wire rod has arrived for the month, edging close to September’s preliminary census total of around 118,000 mt. Sources tell SteelOrbis that while current import bookings are slow, it will take “a while” for the market to work through currently-arriving positions. And unless something “unexpected” happens, such as a strong scrap price uptrend in November, sources say US domestic wire rod’s slow downtrend will likely persist for the remainder of the year.