After stabilizing last week due to low demand from the long holiday weekend in the US, import rebar prices have started to edge up again. Traders tell SteelOrbis that Turkish mills have not faced much resistance to higher quotes, and combined with a steady uptrend in the US domestic rebar market, the expectation is for import offers to maintain their direction upwards.
This week, post-holiday order activity is still not robust, but traders have been able to book for slightly higher prices. As such, imported rebar in the US domestic market from Turkey is now being sold in the range of $23.00-$24.00 cwt. ($460-$480/nt or $507-$529/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports—reflecting an increase of $0.75 cwt. ($15/nt or $17/mt) in the last week.
As for positions, traders say there is still already-arrived rebar at the ports, but considering the difference between Turkish rebar import license data and preliminary census data for October (83,308 mt vs. 67,794 mt, respectively), there’s a chance the final total for November will come up short as well (as of Nov. 25, license data show 92,485 mt). That means fewer positions to compete with US domestic product, which sources say will only further motivate US domestic rebar mills to maintain their upward momentum.