US Import long steel prices were stable to $0.50/cwt., less for a second straight week, amid additional reports of thin global trade and reduced global raw materials costs, though a recent re-development of hostilities in the Middle East could cause a jump in delivered import steel prices soon, market insiders told SteelOrbis.
This week alone, global Brent crude oil prices have increased on average about 7 percent to more than $100 per barrel (/bbl), on July 23, up from about $84/bbl at the beginning of the week. Current Brent crude pricing sits at its highest price on record for the past two months, following recent oil price declines to as low as $72/bbl as hostilities eased and alternative shipping routes were developed.
Freight insiders say the growing Middle East conflict, which has now spread to the Red Sea following Iranian proxy attacks from Yemen's Houthi Rebels on two Saudi ships earlier this week, is creating additional uncertainty for freight buyers through rising costs, unpredictable routes and renewed fuel and insurance surcharges.
Since the war with Iran began, shipping rates between the US and the Middle East have nearly doubled, insiders say, mostly due to a 55 percent surge in maritime bunker fuel prices and sharply higher war risk insurance premiums. Recent surcharges from major carriers range between $65 and $165 per container now following the latest Middle East hostilities, shipping experts now say.
Higher ocean freight rates given renewed uncertainty in the US-Israel-Iran war are becoming a reality, insiders said, with the cost of bulk freight from the US East Coast rising to $50/mt CFR Turkey from $44-46/mt CFR a week prior.
“Oil prices going up is a real concern,” said one US Midwest-based long steel insider. “Everyone's delivered cost of import steel could really start to go up, making it harder for imports to compete with domestic supply.”
At the US Gulf Coast, loaded truck rebar is offered flat at $44.50-45.50/nt ($890-910/nt or $981-1,003/mt), following a $0.50/cwt., decline one week earlier, while equivalent US East Coast material was also reported flat on the week at $45.50-46.50 ($910-930/nt or $1,003-1,025/mt). Some insiders told SteelOrbis a week ago that US East Coast import rebar pricing could potentially decline soon as US demand faltered on a seasonal basis, and oil prices slipped, though that situation was not observed this week amid new reports of Middle East hostility.
Unlike other finished steel products like flat-rolled steel, long steel imports like rebar have actually grown versus year-ago levels, with the latest preliminary census data from the US Department of Commerce showing rebar imports totaled 103,510 metric tons in April, 45.9 percent higher than a month earlier in March and a full 89 percent higher compared with the same period in 2025. Rising domestic long steel prices, increased Asian supply availability, and the acceptance of global shrinking supplier margins have caused long steel imports to rise, even considering the effect of current 50 percent import tariffs, insiders say.
In the wire rod segment, import pricing for wire rod mesh on a DDP loaded truck basis at the US Gulf was discussed $0.50/cwt., less on the week at $47.00-49.00/cwt., ($940-980/nt or $1,036-1,080/mt), off from $47.50-49.50 ($950-990/nt or $1,047-1,091/mt) one week earlier. Import insiders continue to mention “wild card” suppliers from Indonesia and other Asian nations such as Korea and Vietnam as potential sources of low-cost wire and rod as markets head into the third quarter.
