Although the US domestic rebar spot price range showed vulnerability as early as last week, higher scrap prices settled so far this month have reportedly given US rebar mills a boost of confidence to keep prices tight. However, there has been no measurable change in demand, and while import permit levels for September indicate a downtrend in import rebar arrivals, sources continue to report “ample” availability of already-arrived rebar at US ports at prices that are competitive with the lowest end of the US spot price range.
SteelOrbis has continued to hear of transactions at the lower end of the range taking place around $36.00 cwt. ($720/nt or $794/mt) ex-mill, with a few reported outliers as low as $35.00 cwt. ($700/nt or $772/mt) ex-mill. On the high end of the spot price range, small customers are still reportedly paying a maximum of $39.00 cwt. ($780/nt or $960/mt) ex-mill.
Now that US domestic shredded scrap prices have increased by about $10-$15/mt this month, sources say mills will likely try to firm up the bottom end of the range.