Soft scrap prices this month, downtrending import offers and seasonal slow activity were expected to expand dealmaking in the US domestic rebar market, but few expected an official price decrease like the one Nucor announced late last week. Effective immediately, prices for 20-foot rebar products have declined by $1.00 cwt. ($20/nt or $22/mt), but the trend has affected spot prices across the board.
Last week’s wide spot range, at $27.50-$32.00 cwt. ($550-$660/nt or $606-$706/mt) ex-mill, has narrowed on the high end, but the low end is stable—for now—despite outlier deals beneath it. In general, however, sources say most transactions are falling into the range of $27.50-$31.00 cwt. ($550-$640/nt or $606-$684/mt) ex-mill, reflecting the $1.00 cwt. decrease on the high end only.
While Nucor attributed the decrease to lower import offers from Turkey, along with Japan and “other countries,” import prices have stabilized this week, which sources say could complicate the market trend. If import offers stay stable or start to rise, sources say those outlier deals at US mills could quickly disappear.