US billet demand has slowed down while current prices have remained neutral from July.
Although US demand for rebar is decent, US demand for wire rod is still sluggish, and combined with the uncertain economy, the weak US billet demand situation has left re-rollers reluctant to conclude billet transactions for the time being. In addition, lower demand has built up billet inventories, so re-rollers are not making regular billet purchases, focusing more on managing current inventory levels.
Prices, on the other hand, seem to be stable for now. With the neutral movement in US shredded scrap prices in early August, US billet prices have remained in the range of $665 to $675/mt--reflecting no change from a month ago. Early anticipation for US shredded scrap prices in September is a sideways to slightly up trend, and if scrap prices do increase, industry insiders state that it will present difficulties for billet re-rollers, as the US billet market is expected to stay in the current situation in the short-term.
According to the US Import Monitoring and Analysis System (SIMA), total billet imports into the US in July were 16,353 mt, reflecting a significant decrease of 8,114 mt from June. The primary billet exporters to the US during July were Mexico, at 9,872 mt; Canada, at 4,395 mt; Brazil, at 1,588 mt; the United Kingdom, at 315 mt; and Japan, at 183 mt.
On the export market, the latest USITC data show that the total amount of US carbon billet exported in the month of June was 75,809 mt, which registers a big jump of 41,502 mt from May. The main countries that imported US carbon billet in June were: Dominican Republic, at 34,548 mt; Costa Rica, at 15,093 mt; Colombia, at 14,396 mt; Taiwan, at 8,869 mt; Brazil, at 1,950 mt; and Canada, at 877 mt. Among these recipients, Colombia and Brazil imported for the first time from the US this year.