US domestic rebar moves up slightly while wire rod stays flat as scrap remains sideways in July. “The demand [for longs] is still not good,” according to a Steel Orbis insider. Many construction contracts have been delayed due to the tariffs initiated by President Trump back in June. Since construction material prices have spiked, companies like Unistress Corp., in Massachusetts, have been forced to lay off hundreds of their employees. Still, the suppliers in the rebar segment seem to be a bit bullish in their pricing, most probably due the limited supply on the import side.
In the weekly rebar spot markets, domestic supply on an FOB mill basis was assessed with most transactions noted at $41.00-42.00/cwt, ($820-840/nt or $904-926/mt), on average $41.50/cwt, ($830/nt or $915/mt), up $1.00/cwt, ($20/nt or $22/mt), from seven days ago.
In the domestic wire rod market, most transactions were reported this week at $46.50-47.50/cwt ($930-950/nt or $1,025-1,047/mt), or an average of $47.00/cwt ($940/nt or $1,036/mt), unchanged from seven days ago. Liberty Steel still remains active as of this week.