With lead times at US domestic wire rod mills extended out beyond “normal delivery windows,” sources say supply is tight in the US, opening up interest in import offers despite the price uncertainty. Several source of US import wire rod are currently negotiating with the US for tariff exemptions, and while solid offer prices are difficult to come by, offers for imported wire rod in the US domestic market from Brazil are still reportedly around $33.00-$35.00 cwt. ($660-$700/nt or $728-$772/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports—such prices still fall under Brazil’s temporary exemption from the 25 percent import tariff.
Brazil remains the largest non-NAFTA source of wire rod import permits for April (9,276 mt as of April 17), followed closely behind by Egypt (8,386 mt). However, while offer prices at the time of the order were comparable to Brazilian wire rod, Egypt was not on the initial list of countries temporarily exempted from the Section 232 tariffs, and so any shipments that have arrived after March 23 are subject to a 25 percent tax at US ports.