US steel mills continue to operate amid the coronavirus outbreak, and the AISI has urged the government to designate the US steel industry as an “essential” industry exempt from widespread closures. As such, wire rod production continues, although new order activity has “virtually dried up,” sources say. So far, spot prices have hovered at previous levels while buyers adopt a potentially long-term wait-and-see stance, although if end-use manufacturing starts to shut down across the country, wire rod prices could see a dramatic plunge.
For now, US domestic wire rod spot prices are relatively stable in the range of $30.00-$31.00 cwt. ($600-$620/nt or $661-$683/mt) ex-mill, although sources say mills are “very open” to negotiating deals at this point.