After a week of quiet activity and no change in prices, US import rebar prices have once again ticked downward, this time by a slight $0.25 cwt. ($5.50/mt or $5/nt). US import rebar offers from Spain are now trending at $33.50 cwt. ($739/mt or $670/nt) DDP loaded truck at US Gulf ports, while offers from Bulgaria and Portugal are now around $34.00 cwt. ($750/mt or $680/nt) DDP loaded truck at US Gulf ports.
As for incoming arrivals, May levels for import rebar have already surpassed April import permit totals. According to the latest US import license data, there have been 62,290 mt of import rebar permits recorded for this month as of May 9, compared to April’s import permit total of 55,223 mt. One of the most significant entries in the May permit total is 18,772 mt from Turkey, which sources say is likely the previously-reported material that was canceled in August 2018, when the Section 232 tariffs on Turkey were raised from 25 percent to 50 percent.