US import rebar and wire rod pricing was flat this week following slightly higher pricing this past week, as reports of aggressive mill discounting programs mount, even as the status of Liberty Steel’s 700,000 ton per year steel plant in Peoria, Illinois remains unclear, market insiders told SteelOrbis this week.
With communications from Liberty Steel officials limited to security guards at the Peoria facility, it remains unclear at this time whether the facility will restart following recent operational shutdowns.
“No, the plant is not producing wire rod,” said one security official at the plant gate. “You’re guess is as good as mine whether the plant will restart.” The official referred SteelOrbis to a senior VP at the facility, who did not immediately return calls.
Market insiders said last week that the expected loss of nearly 350,000 tons per year of dedicated wire rod capacity was causing domestic wire rod suppliers to raise prices, thus making imported products more price competitive, they said.
“Wire rod prices have risen steeply because of Liberty,” remarked one US Gulf Coast long steel market insider. “Nobody really knows just what the heck is going on. Some are saying the plant could resume operations in mid-November, others are saying it could be as late as mid-January, while still others are saying the plant may not come back at all because of undisclosed financial issues.”
“The Liberty situation is causing a bit of a panic with some customers in the wire rod markets,” said another wire rod importer. “We’re hearing a minimum of $40.00/cwt. for domestic wire rod, which is making more room for imports to gain market share.”
Imported wire rod mesh on a DDP loaded truck basis US Gulf Coast is reported unchanged versus seven days ago at $37.00/cwt. ($740/nt or $816/mt), though up from $35.75/cwt. ($715/nt or $788/mt) a week before.
Even as some mills raise wire rod prices, pricing for imported rebar remains flat as US mills discount pricing to maintain market share against now pressing imports.
“The US markets have been very challenging because the domestic mills are dropping their prices to maintain market share against imports,” said one Texas-based long steel importer. “As a result, we’ve been kind of limited to selling rebar in markets closer to Mexico such as Texas, California, and Arizona.”
On the import rebar front, prices remain flat with supplies to the US Gulf Coast on a loaded truck basis discussed at $36.75-37.50 ($735-750/nt or $810-827/mt), though still up from $36.50-37.50/cwt., ($730-750/nt or $805-827/mt) on October 7. Trading remains light for US East Coast import rebar with ranges also noted steady to a week ago at $36.75-37.25/cwt., though up from $36.00-36.75/cwt. ($720-735/nt or $794-810/mt) two weeks earlier.
Import rebar prices from Egypt and Algeria are also flat on the week at $37.00-38.00/cwt. ($740-760/nt or $816-838/mt) versus earlier trades three weeks earlier at $35.50-37.00/cwt. ($710-740/nt or $783-816/mt). Import rebar from Turkey is talked flat at $36.75/cwt. ($735/nt or $810/mt) though still up from $36.00/cwt. ($720/nt or $794/mt) several weeks ago.
Delivered rebar from Mexico vicinity Houston, Texas, is discussed flat once again at $36.00-37.00/cwt. ($720-740/nt or $794-816/mt), compared with $36.25-36.75/cwt. ($725-735/nt or $799-810/mt) two weeks earlier.
Geopolitical considerations also are a factor in recent low demand for finished steel products such as domestic rebar and wire rod. Market insiders told SteelOrbis that next week’s US presidential elections should ease mounting uncertainty about US steel market growth starting in 2025.
In the US domestic market, wire rod pricing remains flat at $39.00-41.00/cwt. ($780-820/nt or $860-904/mt), or an average of $40.00/cwt. ($800/nt or $882/mt), up from an average $36.50/cwt. ($725/nt or $805/mt) two weeks ago.
At last report, November scrap is seen strong sideways in most regions to as much as $20/gt ($20.48/mt) higher in the Chicago and Detroit vicinity, scrap market insiders told SteelOrbis this week. Scrap prices are still expected to strengthen in November because steel mills will have a reduced number of their facilities idled due to the completion of planned maintenance outages next month versus October, market insiders said.