US domestic rebar and wire rod prices remained steady, following this week’s surprise announcements from several large US mills announcing higher customer pricing for new rollings of rebar products, market insiders told SteelOrbis.
On May 1, Irving, Texas-based Commercial Metals Company (CMC), announced a $30/ton ($1.50/cwt.) increase in rebar pricing from its Seguin, Tx, Durant, Ok, Knoxville, Tenn, Jacksonville, Fl, Cayce, SC, and Sayreville, NJ mills. An additional $20/ton ($1.00/cwt.) would also be assessed on all coil and spool products from the Durant, OK and Jacksonville, Fl locations, CMC said, adding that all confirmed orders received by close of business May 1 would be price protected if shipped by May 15.
Three days later on May 4, Nucor Bar Mill Group announced an equivalent increase on its rebar products from mills located at Jewett, TX, Sedalia, MO, Jackson, MS, Birmingham, AL, Frostproof, FL, Marion, OH, Kankakee, IL, Lexington, NC, and Auburn, NY locations. And, like CMC, Nucor also planned to increase by $20/ton pricing for its spooled and coiled rebar products, with all confirmed orders price protected if shipped by May 18. Insiders said price increases also were announced by Beaumont, Texas-based Optimus Steel and Tampa, Florida-based Gerdau US, though confirmations were limited as of press time.
Although spot pricing remains flat for now for existing productive capacity already booked, long steel insiders said the mill price increases for new rolling schedules were likely to be accepted over the next week by the marketplace owing to reports of continued tight inventory, the result of solid domestic demand and steel imports recently estimated at levels 38 percent lower than those reported just one year ago, insiders said.
In the domestic rebar market, Midwest rebar on an FOB mill basis sold on average unchanged at $46.00-47.00/cwt., ($920-940/nt or $1,014-1,036/mt). And, while recent rebar pricing has been steady to slightly down as more supplies have been made available, on a yearly basis, prices are up nearly 22 percent from equivalent 2025 levels.
“I think this week’s price increases on rebar will be accepted by the market because availability is limited,” remarked one US Midwest rebar insider.
Another insider was less sure about the likelihood of market acceptance of the mill price increases.
“It’s a bit too early to tell whether the increases will be accepted by the US market in my opinion,” the insider said. “The increases probably will be accepted right away in Texas and Florida, because that’s where supply remains the tightest.”
Another contact appeared surer about the likely effects of price increases on the market.
“It will stick,” the contact said of this week’s rebar price announcements. “From the mill standpoint, it’s pure greed,” he added. “The real question for the market is, how will Hybar react.”
Recently, market insiders told SteelOrbis increase rebar output from the new 700,000-ton per year Hybar rebar mill in Osceola, Arkansas, and Nucor Steel’s 430,000 ton per year rebar mini-mill in Lexington, NC., have resulted in lower rebar offers as available capacity becomes more available.
In a sales team statement to customers, upstart rebar producer Hybar announced that it would not follow the lead of Nucor and CMC seen in the East in recent days to raise prices, “taking its own path as it seeks to build market share,” they said.
“Hybar will continue to work with and support independent fabricators, coaters, distributors and precast companies that find it increasingly challenging to buy rebar from their competitors,” a company official said, pointing to its “bespoke pricing options” to address cost pressures across the value chain.
The letter continued. “The company has targeted some of its competitor’s key accounts, pricing rebar near or below rivals’ delivered rates in every region as output nears 80 percent of the 630,000 ton-a-year Arkansas’ mill capacity. Production topped 40,000 tons in April after reaching nearly 100,000 tons in Q1, according to figures provided by the company on (May 5). “We were EBITA positive in month four and haven’t looked back since,” said CEO David Stickler.
In the local wire rod spot markets, spot pricing is discussed little changed following last week’s $1.00/cwt., ($20/nt or $22/mt) price increases to $50-51/cwt., ($1,000-1,020/nt or $1,102-1,124/mt). Traders continue to report that wire rod supplies remain tighter than those reported for local rebar, though no mention of reduced output from the Peoria, Illinois-based Liberty Steel was mentioned this week.
Steel market insiders continue to cite rising rebar and wire rod prices and strong scrap values as key reasons that the US is likely to see a resurgence of imports into the US during the second and third quarters this year, despite the continued effects of 50 percent steel import tariffs.
“We’re continuing to hear reports of competitively-priced rebar arriving in the US from South Korea priced below $900/short ton ($45.00/cwt), inclusive of the 50 percent steel tariffs,” noted one US Gulf Coast insider. “Rising domestic long steel values in the US are likely to re-open the door to imports, that have been recently closed by 50 percent steel tariffs.”
In the US ferrous scrap market, pricing is expected to settle for May deliveries to customers sideways to April values for cuts and shredded scrap, while price direction for prime busheling scrap on a delivered basis “remains undetermined as buyers weight options,” insiders told SteelOrbis, though most recently has been discussed at $20/gt premiums, they said.
