In a letter to customers this week, Nucor announced it will increase prices on all wire rod products by $2.00 cwt. ($40/nt or $44/mt), effective with shipments as of Oct. 2, 2017. Days earlier, Keystone announced the same amount in its own wire rod price increase, citing rising costs from a global shortage of graphite electrodes.
Current spot prices for US domestic wire rod are in the range of $30.00-$31.00 cwt. ($600-$620/nt or $661-$683/mt) ex-mill. If the full increase is absorbed into the market, new spot prices would be in the range of $32.00-$33.00 cwt. ($640-$660/nt or $705-$728/mt) ex-mill.