After a small portion of the US domestic rebar market's $1.25 cwt. ($28/mt or $25/nt) transaction price increase for April went through a little over a week ago, further momentum has stalled. Most spot prices are still in the range of $34.00-$35.00 cwt. ($750-$772/mt or $680-$700/mt) ex-mill--reflecting $0.50 cwt. ($5.50/mt or $5/nt) of the increase--and sources tell SteelOrbis that mills' attempts at pushing through more of the increase have been met with resistance, as many customers expect a decrease in shredded scrap prices next month. However, some distributors have reportedly paid $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) of the increase with little trouble passing it down to their own customers, indicating pockets of success where demand is strong. While they might be able to get slightly more of the increase in the next week or so, any further upticks will be short-lived.
As for imports, Turkish offer prices have remained stable despite a slight drop in CFR prices this week--traders tell SteelOrbis that they didn't raise sales prices when CFR prices increased earlier this month, so there is no reason to lower prices now. Therefore, Turkish rebar is still being offered for the most part in the range of $29.50-$30.50 cwt. ($650-$672/mt or $590-$610/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports--unchanged in the last week. Mexican offer prices, meanwhile, have followed the US domestic rebar trend and increased in the last week, by about $1.00 cwt., although demand is tepid as US customers hold out for next month's scrap decrease. For now, most Mexican offers are in the new range of $31.50-$32.50 cwt. ($694-$717/mt or $630-$650/nt) DDP loaded truck delivered to US border states, but traders report that Mexican mills are willing to be flexible with larger orders.