Even though US traders are still officially offering rebar from disputed import sources, customers are for the most part too wary of the impending AD/CVD suit to take the risk of booking future orders. Seemingly sensing this, Turkish mills have dropped rebar offer prices to the US in a "last hurrah"--one final attempt to book orders before interest dries up completely. However, traders have not translated the ex-Turkish mill price decrease to sales prices in the US--which remain at $29.00-$30.00 cwt. ($639-$661/mt or $580-$600/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports--because margins are already razor-thin. Mexican rebar offers to the US are also unchanged at $29.50-$30.50 cwt. ($650-$672/mt or $590-$610/nt) DDP loaded truck delivered to US border states, and inspiring equal disinterest. As for alternative sources, Korea is still offering to the US in the range of $32.00-$33.00 cwt. ($705-$727/mt or $640-$660/nt) DDP loaded truck in West Coast ports. Japanese offers, on the other hand, are still viable, but traders say that due to the strong domestic market in Japan, mills aren't very invested in pushing exports at the moment.
Stateside, US domestic rebar spot prices are expected to remain in the range of $31.50-$32.50 cwt. ($705-$717/mt or $630-$650/nt) ex-mill even if shredded scrap prices decrease next month as predicted, due to a combination of decent demand and confidence in the future results of the trade suits against their primary competition.