Although many in the US rebar market were concerned last week that, following a city-wide shutdown in Boston, construction sites across the US would be shuttered, many sites remain open and sources tell SteelOrbis that demand for rebar in the US “isn’t fantastic, but it isn’t dead.” However, buyers are continuing to turn to US domestic rebar mills for their supplies, and avoiding imports due to “extreme uncertainty.”
Sources say import rebar offers to the US are “very attractive, and getting cheaper” but there’s little incentive to taking advantage of such offers when the market outlook for the next few months is unpredictable. Current US import offers from Turkey are in the range of $29.00-$30.00 cwt. ($639-$661/mt or $580-$600/nt) DDP loaded truck at US Gulf ports, down $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) in the last week. Offers from Mexico are now at $30.00-$31.00 cwt. ($661-$683/mt or $600-$620/nt) DDP Houston, down $0.50 cwt. on the high end of the range.
As for offers from Spain, sources report few new offers due to the coronavirus outbreak, which is affecting the country more acutely than others in Europe. The last-heard import rebar offers from Spain last week ranged from $30.00-$31.00 cwt. ($661-$683/mt or $600-$620/nt) DDP loaded truck at US Gulf ports.