After the US Department of Commerce (DOC) publicly released its Section 232 recommendations in January, a few final significant loads of import rebar from Turkey were booked under the assumption that the Trump administration wouldn’t make its final decision on tariffs until the investigation deadline in mid-April. However, Trump’s unplanned announcement on March 8 that a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports entering the US as of March 23 has added significant uncertainty to the market, specifically the price on tonnage booked in late January that has arrived in the latter half of March.
According to the latest import license data, 116,765 mt of Turkish rebar import permits have been recorded so far this month (as of March 27)—the largest amount since March 2017—and it is unclear how much of that tonnage will be subject to the 25 percent tariff. Sources say “most of it” arrived after March 23, but other sources say they aren’t worried about the higher price tags considering the current US domestic rebar trend.
While new offer prices for import rebar are still in “early talks” between traders and customers, sources say the already-arrived rebar from Turkey—with the 25 percent tariff added—would be around $39.00 cwt. ($780/nt or $860/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports. US domestic rebar spot prices are currently just above that level.