Although offer prices for US import wire rod have remained stable week-on-week, sources say interest in imports has “declined somewhat” after new developments in the US domestic wire rod market. Now that the US domestic wire rod uptrend has come to a halt in light of a US DOC investigation into “illegitimate profiteering,” sources say US wire rod buyers might return focus to the domestic market if they can negotiate prices downward.
However, current import offers from Brazil are still significantly lower than US domestic prices, and according to news reports, Brazil is still actively trying to negotiate with the US to eliminate the quotas the country agreed to in order to avoid Section 232 tariffs. If Brazil is successful in those negotiations, sources say that it will bring certainty to the US import wire rod market that could result in higher interest once again.
For now, imported wire rod in the US domestic market from Brazil is still being offered at $35.00-$36.00 cwt. ($700-$720/nt or $772-$794/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.