After spending several weeks on a gradual downward trend, import rebar offers to the US from Turkey have held steady in the last week, and traders say all signs are pointing to a potential increase soon. Efforts to secure lower prices from Turkish mills have not been met with success, which sources say suggests an uptrend on the horizon. However, traders have already found enough difficulty booking orders at the current offer range of $28.25-$29.25 cwt. ($623-$645/mt or $565-$585/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports considering how much already-arrived positions are saturating the market. While prices for positions are reportedly "all over the place," traders are starting to get desperate to unload and in some cases are selling at below the cost they paid months ago. Meanwhile, Mexican rebar offers have also remained vulnerable due to wide availability. In fact, some traders report that they can book at the current range of $28.50-$29.50 cwt. ($628-$650/mt or $570-$590/nt) DDP loaded truck delivered to US border states and receive their order "within days." Nevertheless, Mexican mills have "drawn a line in the sand" and are refusing any offers below the range.
On the domestic front, no movement has been heard with the current spot price range of $32.50-$33.50 cwt. ($717-$739/mt or $650-$670/nt) ex-mill, although sources say that pressure from import position availability has resulted in some larger customers paying slightly less. Overall, the spot price range is expected to hold until predictions for next month's scrap trend become clear; but because mills have shown resistance lately to lowering transaction prices in response to a slight downtrend in scrap prices, the only scrap movements that will likely have any impact would be a substantial downtrend or increase of any size.