US rebar and wire rod markets were mixed this week with domestic rebar markets reported marginally lower while wire rod pricing moved up slightly, market insiders told SteelOrbis.
This week’s juxaposed pricing is the result of continued tight domestic wire rod supply as several mills among them Peoria, Illinois-based Liberty Steel, continue to produce below their rated capacity, helping recent mill price increases for wire rod to gain traction in the marketplace. Rebar markets are steady to slightly down as mills begin to explore the use of limited discounting programs to retain customers in the face of reports of growing imports.
Domestic rebar prices on an FOB Midwest mill basis fell $0.50/cwt., this week to on average $47.50-48.50/cwt., ($950-970/nt or $1,047-1,069/mt), off from $48.00-49/cwt., ($960-980/nt or $1,058-1,080/mt), a level where pricing stood unchanged for five previous weeks.
“Scrap looks like its going to come in sideways at this point for March, and imports are starting to come in,” reported one US East Coast rebar insider. “Prices are not moving much, but, (new demand) remains very slow out there right now.”
“Mills have shown modest [rebar] concessions ($10-30/ton in some cases), largely tied to seasonal inventory management rather than structural weakness,” reported another US Gulf Coast rebar insider. “Scrap price increases over the past three months continue to underpin pricing floors.”
And, while rebar prices remain more than 4 percent higher versus the beginning of the year, since February 2025, rebar pricing is up more than 22 percent, mostly on scrap price increases and improved demand from associated AI data center builds and other infrastructure project developments, insiders said.
Insiders explained that more output from both North Carolina-based Nucor’s 430,000 ton per year Lexington rebar micro mill, as well as Hybar LLC’s new 700,000 ton per year rebar mill near Osceola, Arkansas, is contributing to renewed discounting from local mills, especially since reports of increased imports continue to be reported to SteelOrbis.
“We’re hearing reports that Nucor has offered to match lower import barge pricing for rebar,” said one US Gulf Coast long steel insider. “And, recent wire rod price increases largely have been accepted by the market which is causing wire rod to move a bit up.”
On Feb. 11, Nucor announced a $30/ton ($1.50/cwt.) increase in spot wire rod prices, though market acceptance of Nucor’s increase remained limited this week with prices up only about $0.50/cwt.
In the US scrap markets, this week’s exclusive SteelOrbis survey of market participants finds both mills and suppliers in agreement that pricing will likely cool off for March and April, following three straight months of steady price increases.
“We just got a couple more inches of snow last night and it’s fine,” said one Midwest-based scrap supplier. “I’m hearing sideways for March and possibly down for April,” he said. “I initially expected to see a small bump in March scrap pricing but now it’s all sideways as inflows are starting to pick up from levels we saw about two weeks ago when the weather was a disaster, and our trucks and equipment wouldn’t even start. Now that we’ve gotten through that, inflows are a lot more manageable.”
“I think inflows are pretty solid,” reported one US Midwest-based mill scrap buyer. “There is plenty of material being made available.”
In the domestic wire rod market, insiders expect wire rod pricing to remain strong near term with additional weekly price increases likely as domestic supply is expected to remain tight and imports limited through the first half of 2026.
Spot domestic wire rod prices on an FOB mill basis were assessed with most transactions noted $0.50/cwt., higher at $48.50-49.50/cwt., ($970-990/nt or $1,069-1,091/mt), up from $48.00-49.00/cwt ($960-980/nt or $1,058-1,080/mt), or an average of $48.50/cwt ($970/nt or $1,069/mt), a price level the product has maintained for more than 10 weeks.
