After the US DOC announced preliminary margins in the trade case against Chinese wire rod--between 106.19 and 110.25 percent, effectively maintaining their ouster from the US market--traders tell SteelOrbis that it’s not a given that Turkish mills will take advantage of the situation. Already, the offer price range from Turkey is still around $31.00-$32.00 cwt. ($620-$640/nt or $683-$705/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, which is not far enough from US domestic spot prices to risk a substantial increase, especially in lackluster demand conditions. However, traders say they are reviewing alternate sources to see if anyone has a better offer.
US domestic wire rod mills, meanwhile, have not indicated any change to their current offerings, with spot prices languishing in the range of $32.50-$33.50 cwt. ($650-$670/nt or $717-$739/mt) ex-mill. Even hopes of a scrap price uptrend as a catalyst to push up the market have been dashed, with many sources predicting yet another sideways-to-down trend. The only market factor that could make a difference, sources say, is a firm increase in demand.