Although prices for import wire rod offers to the US have not changed in the last week, more and more traders have confirmed that interest in Turkish wire rod is extremely weak, compared to much livelier inquiry activity for Chinese rod. Not only are Chinese wire rod offers considerably cheaper than Turkish offers, many traders say concerns that Chinese product is of lesser quality are no longer valid. For now, Chinese offer prices are still in the range of $28.00-$29.00 cwt. ($617-$639/mt or $560-$580/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports--a temporary attempt by Chinese mills to raise prices was short-lived, bringing prices back down to the same level as last week. Turkish offers, meanwhile, are also steady at $30.00-$31.00 cwt. ($661-$683/mt or $600-$620/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.
On the domestic front, activity is limited and prices are stagnant in the US wire rod market. Although some steel producers that make other long products aside from wire rod announced late last week that prices for rebar and merchant bar would remain unchanged this month despite any changes in scrap prices, there's a chance the trend for wire rod will not follow suit. Wire rod mills are notorious for latching on to anything resembling a scrap increase, and sources believe they will most likely raise prices after the predicted scrap prices increase is announced. Whether a wire rod increase will go through, however, is another matter--many sources are not optimistic. For now, US wire rod spot prices remain in the range of $33.00-$34.00 cwt. ($728-$750/mt or $660-$680/nt) ex-mill, with some deals as low as $32.00 cwt. ($705/mt or $640/nt) ex-mill.