Sources tell SteelOrbis that import rebar offers to the US from Turkey are “completely off the table” after Donald Trump doubled the Section 232 tariffs against Turkish steel earlier this month. Contracts have reportedly been canceled and many importers are “incredibly concerned” about their ability to offload orders from Turkey that are “already on the water.”
In the absence of the US’ top source of imported rebar from the market, other international sources are reportedly “eager” to claim portions of the market share vacuum, but with most other countries subject to the original 25 percent Section 232 tariffs, import offers are still not attractive enough to pull interest away from US domestic spot prices, which sources tell SteelOrbis are “flexible” due to lower raw material costs this month.
The only regular source of import rebar to the US that is not subject to tariffs is Brazil, which adopted a quota system for US imports in May. However, according to the quota agreement in which Brazil can only ship 70 percent of the 2015-2017 tonnage average in each product group—Brazil has shipped 150,967 mt of long products out of their quota of 151,104 mt. As such, US importers are unable to take advantage of offer prices that are far below the competition.
As for other sources of US import rebar, including Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Mexico, sources say offer prices are “slightly above” $40.00 cwt. ($882/mt or $800/nt) DDP loaded truck at US Gulf ports, depending on the country and order size, although some traders say they are holding off on inquiries to European sources of rebar as trade negotiations between the US and EU are reportedly ongoing, with the elimination of Section 232 tariffs a possible outcome.