Traders have not adjusted import wire rod offers from Turkey this week even though lower offers on the CFR level have been heard in the market, due to uncertainty as to how long prices will remain weak. Demand for wire rod—both imports and US domestic product—is still lackluster, but with waning availability of positions at the port (less than 1,000 mt of Turkish wire rod arrived in the US in the first week of April), sources tell SteelOrbis that traders might not drop prices at all and wait until demand picks up as expected with the spring construction season. As such, Turkish wire rod offers for future arrival are still available in the range of $24.50-$25.50 cwt. ($490-$510/nt or $540-$562/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.
As for the US domestic wire rod market, sources are hopeful that the aforementioned expected uptick in demand will allow mills to firm their grasp on spot prices. Deals beneath the current range of $26.50-$27.50 cwt. ($530-$550/nt or $584-$606/mt) ex-mill continue to flourish in the market, but some sources say mills are becoming “pickier” about which customers they bestow with flexibility, indicating that predictions of a “quiet, off-the-books” price decrease might not pan out.