Traders continue to report an overall pause in US import wire rod offers, and now that the 25 percent tariff on imports has been signed into law, it is unlikely that offers will return in the near-term. Sources say offers will be “back on the table” once US domestic wire rod prices surpass import offers with the 25 percent tariff included.
As the last-heard offers for imported wire rod in the US domestic market from Germany were around $31.50 cwt. ($630/nt or $694/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, adding a 25 percent tariff would bring offers up to around $39.00 cwt. ($780/nt or $860/mt), which is still above current US domestic wire rod spot prices of $34.75-$35.25 cwt. ($695-$705/nt or $766-$777/mt) ex-mill.
While the Section 232 tariffs will not go into effect for another two weeks, sources tell SteelOrbis that it is unclear whether the tariffs will apply to new orders or arriving shipments, and so for now, there has been no rush to book import wire rod ahead of the tariffs. However, if the terms of the tariffs end up applying to shipments only, there could be one last “burst” of orders with short delivery times, sources say.