Although the $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) base price decrease announced in early May for US domestic merchant bar ahead of this month's scrap announcement was intended as a "correction" to discounting in several long product markets, sources tell SteelOrbis that there is still sub-mill-pricing product out there, mostly because the market is awash in extra inventory. Larger distributors were reportedly booking orders for as much as $2.50 cwt. ($55/mt or $50/nt) under published prices before the decrease announcement, and because that product is still available, many smaller distributors have still been able to buy from them at around published prices. Additionally, many medium-sized distributors have reported the ability to get at least $0.25 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) off published prices directly from the mill.
Lagging demand for merchant bar in the US has also pressured mills to be more "negotiating-friendly" as one distributor put it, and tepid demand for domestic product has spilled into the import realm as well. US-based distributors report that their main interest in imports right now is specialty sizes, and they would only consider booking more general sizes and shapes from offshore sources if import offer prices were around $2.00-$3.00 cwt. ($22-$66/mt or $20-$60/nt) less than US domestic spot prices. As such, the current range for import merchant bar from Turkey--$36.00-$37.00 cwt. ($794-$816/mt or $720-$740/nt) DDP loaded truck at US Gulf ports--is not quite attractive enough to garner much interest.
US domestic published prices (ex-mill):
Product Name |
Specification |
Price ($/cwt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Price ($/nt) |
Flat Bar |
½ x 4" |
$37.85 cwt. |
$834/mt |
$757/nt |
Angles |
2 x 2 x ¼" |
$37.65 cwt. |
$830/mt |
$753/nt |
4 x 4 x ½" |
$38.90 cwt. |
$858/mt |
$778/nt |
|
Square Bar |
1" |
$37.60 cwt. |
$829/mt |
$752/nt |
Round Bar |
1" |
$39.05 cwt. |
$861/mt |
$781/nt |
Channels |
3 x 3 ½" |
$38.60 cwt. |
$851/mt |
$772/nt |