Although Brazil is one of the US’ sources for import wire rod, sources tell SteelOrbis that the impact of this week’s announcement that tariffs could be reinstated against steel imports from Brazil is unlikely to have much of an impact on the overall US import wire rod market. Demand is too low for such a development to be influential at the moment, sources say, adding that at the moment it is still not clear if the tariff news will become actual policy—so far, nothing has been made official at the US Department of Commerce.
Additionally, US imports of Brazilian wire rod are not consistent, with US import data showing zero tonnage recorded in November after the US imported 8,614 mt of Brazilian wire rod in October. Offer prices for Brazilian wire rod are unchanged this week at $28.25-$29.25 cwt. ($623-$645/mt or $565-$585/nt) DDP loaded truck in US East coast ports, although prior to the tariff news, sources reported Brazilian producers pushing for slightly firmer offers. Offers from Germany are also stable week-on-week at $28.50-$29.00 cwt. ($628-$639/mt or $570-$580/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.