Before US domestic wire rod mills slashed prices by up to $3.50 cwt. ($70/nt or $77/mt) last week, sources told SteelOrbis that the pricing floor was in sight for US import wire rod offers from Turkey. Since then, Turkish offers have remained flexible, with traders reporting that Turkish mills are only slightly resistant to lower offers. Many traders are still “waiting it out” to book when wire rod offers hit bottom, but for now they are still offering to US customers in the range of $24.50-$25.50 cwt. ($490-$510/nt or $540-$562/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, although the range reportedly has a decent amount of “wiggle room”.
However, the downtrend in prices is not all “doom and gloom” according to attendees at the AWPA conference in Tucson, Arizona this week, as demand is reportedly decent enough for them to work through higher-priced inventories. But once it’s time to buy again, sources say the spike in replenishment demand could be enough to “stop the bleeding” in regards to US domestic wire rod prices, especially if scrap prices stabilize as well. Until then, US wire rod prices are unchanged since last week, reflecting the recent decrease at $26.50-$27.50 cwt. ($530-$550/nt or $584-$606/mt) ex-mill.