US domestic rebar prices have held firm while domestic wire rod prices jumped up due to a recent Nucor announcement earlier in December, and scrap has been projected sideways to higher for next month.
"I guess the holiday season will be slow and there might be some movement after the holidays, but the US economy and supply and demand will be most telling in Q1 of 2026,” said a long steel insider.
In the weekly rebar spot markets, domestic supply on an FOB mill basis was assessed with most transactions noted at $46.00-47.00/cwt, ($920-940/nt or $1,014-1,036/mt), on average $46.50/cwt, ($930/nt or $1,025/mt), unchanged from seven days ago.
On Nov. 7, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor increased its posted prices for rebar by $30/nt ($33/mt), or $1.50/cwt. No additional rebar price increase announcements have been issued to date by the US steel maker.
On the domestic long steel demand side, weekly discussions with market insiders again focused on the US construction industry and its current demand driver in new data center construction projects, when compared with tepid residential and commercial construction activity.
As of December 11, Nucor issued an increase of $1.50/cwt ($30/nt or $33/mt) for wire rod. Domestic wire rod pricing has been flat since mid-June before the latest Nucor announcement. In the domestic wire rod market, domestic supply on an FOB mill basis was assessed with most transactions reported this week at $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), up $1.50/cwt ($30/nt or $33/mt).