Major trade news one week ago, in which the US announced the reduction of Section 232 tariffs against Turkish steel back to 25 percent and the elimination of tariffs against Mexico and Canada, was a “shock” to the US import wire rod market, and sources say they are still evaluating all the ramifications of the news. While it’s not quite certain yet if Turkey and Mexico will try to regain market share with US import wire rod, buyers are holding off on making major orders while they wait to see if new offers materialize.
As such, offers from other sources have not moved this week, and sources say they might see a “response” to the trade news with adjusted offer prices “within the next week or so.” Offers from Germany and Malaysia are still in the range of $33.00-$34.00 cwt. ($728-$750/mt or $660-$680/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports from Germany and Malaysia, while import wire rod offers from India are also unchanged this week in the range of $32.00-$32.50 cwt. ($705-$717/mt or $640-$650/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Offers from Egypt are still heard close to $35.00 cwt. ($772/mt or $700/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.