Speaking at the SteelOrbis Fall '10 Conference & 63rd IREPAS Meeting held in Madrid on October 3-5, Carlos Amezcua from Tata Steel International said that US apparent rebar consumption is still expected to be down by 2.7 million mt to 4.91 million mt this year, compared to the average annual consumption level recorded in the period of 2004-2009. In this consumption, Mr. Amezcua said, the share of imports is becoming more and more limited, mostly due to consolidations in the domestic market: decreasing from 26 percent in 2006, to 18 percent in 2007, 13 percent in 2008, nine percent in 2009 and to an estimated eight percent in 2010. However, this year the volume of US rebar imports is expected to rise by 7.9 percent year on year.
Carlos Amezcua also said that a concentration is obvious in US rebar import destinations. In 2009 and in the first nine months of this year, Mexico had a share of 51 percent in total rebar imports, while Turkey's share was 40 percent, and Dominican Republic had an eight percent share.
Regarding the outlook for the rebar market in the US, Mr. Amezcua said that rising infrastructure spending may boost the market, while housing is expected to increase gradually starting from this year. A reduction in the high unemployment rate would help to increase housing starts, which are seen as a key indicator in rebar consumption.