US domestic rebar prices increased while wire rod was reported flat this week as President Trump initiated 25 percent across the board Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum from overseas suppliers on February 10.
“It will take a while before the full and realistic impact will emerge,” said one SteelOrbis insider, discussing the 25 percent tariffs. Most insiders said steel prices will go up because of reduced steel imports. The true impact of the tariffs should be unveiled over the next few months, they said.
In the weekly rebar spot markets, domestic supply on an FOB mill basis is assessed with most transactions noted at $38.00-39.50/cwt. ($760-790/nt or $838-871/mt), on average $38.75/cwt. ($775/nt or $854/mt), up from seven days ago.
On the mill side, on February 10, steelmaker Nucor announced a $40/nt ($43/mt) or $2.00/cwt., increase in rebar pricing across all of its producing mills, though the full price increase has yet to be accepted by the market, rebar insiders told SteelOrbis. Nucor said the increase was inspired by a “significant rise in input costs.” Insiders said they were expecting the rising cost of February scrap to cause mills to raise prices.
Shredded scrap in the US Ohio Valley rose an average $35/gt ($36/mt) to $430-435/gt ($436-441/mt) on low inventory at both mills and suppliers after recent extreme cold weather and transportation-related problems complicated the delivery of monthly contract scrap. At the beginning of February negotiations, several mills reported still being owed significant amounts of January scrap.
In the domestic wire rod market, most transactions were reported this week at $40.00-42.00/cwt. ($800-840/nt or $882-926/mt), or an average of $41.00/cwt. ($820/nt or $904/mt), unchanged from seven days ago.
Tensions in the weekly steel spot market is likely to remain high as President Trump is expected to announce an additional set of reciprocal tariffs later this week.