Last week, the US DOC revised Mexican rebar AD duties in an administrative review, reducing the duties from two producers to 0.00-0.56 percent from the previous level of 20.58-66.7 percent. While the development has led to positive sentiment among traders and rebar buyers in the US, the new availability of Mexican rebar imports might not have a chance to flourish if the results of the Section 232 investigation impose additional duties on the product.
Mexico and Canada have reportedly attempted to appeal to the US to be excluded from the investigation due to their status as NAFTA partners, but so far the US DOC has not officially ruled out any specific steel product or exporting country. But considering the short lead times from Mexico compared to other US import sources of rebar, traders tell SteelOrbis there might be a short window of time to order before any potential Section 232 tariffs become official, and discussion of offer prices is currently ongoing.
Meanwhile, Turkish rebar offers continue to trend quiet as US buyers await the Section 232 results. With few new offers in process, imported rebar in the US domestic market from Turkey is still available for about $25.00-$26.00 cwt. ($490-$510/nt or $540-$562/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports—unchanged in the last week.