US import long steel prices were steady for a second week following slight gains posted several weeks earlier, amid continued thin trade as many market participants report being sidelined waiting on more certainty regarding a fluid Mideast situation, insiders told SteelOrbis.
And while media reports indicate negotiations with Iran continue with the country directly and through intermediaries in Pakistan, the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed with a US naval blockade still in place since April 13. Recent naval encounters and the first US strikes inside Iran this week since the ceasefire began April 8 have done little to ease ongoing market tensions, insiders said.
Despite thin trade, long steel importers told SteelOrbis this week that import pricing could remain supported as a result of elevated global fuel pricing and higher domestic steel prices as a result of sharp import reductions. Higher US long steel pricing, they said, could create additional demand for cheaper imported material, primarily from South Korea.
“We’re hearing reports that rising rebar prices in the US could re-open the door for imports that have remained closed because of 50 percent import tariffs,” said one US Gulf Coast long steel insider. “Reports also are circulating that a lot of rebar from South Korea is being priced below $900 per short ton ($992/mt), or $45.00/cwt., inclusive of the 50 percent import tariffs.”
Long steel insiders also continue to closely watch the price of freight and fuel which remains elevated as a result of the continued closure of the Strait, where it’s estimated that about 20 percent of global oil flows on a daily basis. As the Iran conflict enters its tenth week, the price of US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) dipped to $93-95 per barrel, off from a week-earlier high that exceeded $110/bbl, though still more than 40 percent higher than WTI prices were before the conflict began in late February.
On the US Gulf Coast, import rebar on a loaded truck basis remains steady at $45.50-46.50/cwt., ($910-930/nt or $1,003-1,025/mt), though up from $45.00-46.00/cwt., ($900-920/nt or $992-$1,014/mt) two weeks earlier when markets turned higher as a result of reports of rising fuel surcharges. US East Coast import rebar pricing on a loaded truck basis also remained flat to week ago-levels, following an earlier $0.50/cwt., rise amid freight concerns to $46.00-47.00/cwt., ($920-940/nt or $1,014-1,036/mt).
Weekly import wire rod market pricing also remained flat versus week-ago price levels, even as supply availability remained thin from both an import and domestic market basis. More limited global shipping assets, combined with continued high fuel surcharges, shippers say, have combined to recently make imports of long steel less competitive, insiders said.
In the import wire rod markets, wire rod mesh on a DDP loaded truck basis US Gulf Coast, is discussed steady for a second week at $47.50-48.50/cwt., ($950- 970/nt or $1,047-1,069/mt). And while weekly pricing remained flat, import pricing is still up from the $47.00-48.00/cwt., ($940-960/nt or $1,036-1,058/mt), assessment made three weeks prior.
On the steel import side, most recent import permit data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) finds that total import permits for April were 1,945,000 net tons (nt). This was an 8.1 percent increase from the 1,799,000 permit tons recorded in March and a 10 percent rise from the March final imports total of 1,769,000 nt. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in April was 1,417,000, up 8.5 percent from the final imports total of 1,306,000 in March. For the first four months of 2026 (including April SIMA permits and March final imports), total and finished steel imports were 7,044,000 nt and 5,157,000 nt, down 28.8 percent and 30 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2025.
AISI said the estimated finished steel import market share in April was 17 percent and is 15 percent year-to-date. March market share rose 6.6 percent versus February, AISI said.
