US rebar market - Import offers continue to rise

Import rebar offers continued their rally by rising another $1.00 cwt. ($22 /mt or $20 /nt) this week, with increases in both Turkish and Asian asking numbers. Import rebar offers now range from $24.50 cwt. to $25.50 cwt. ($540 /mt to $562 /mt or $490 /nt to $510 /nt) FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. This is a mostly supplier-driven price increase, though US demand for rebar is so strong that suppliers are are able to find acceptance for increasingly higher asking prices. Last week's increase in US domestic rebar pricing also provided impetus for the import market to move up further. Even though there are some signs the market is slowing down, the import pricing trend is still slightly up. However, current prices are not too far away from the all-time high prices of 2004. The domestic pricing trend is also slightly up, following Nucor's $15 /nt ($17 /mt or $0.75 cwt.) price increase last week. Domestic offers starting May 1 will range from $25.50 cwt. to $26.00 cwt. ($562 /mt to $573 /mt or $510 /nt to $520 /nt) FOB mill. Extras change from one domestic producer to another and vary depending on bar size, grade, and length. #3's (9.5 mm) fetch the highest extra, usually about $4.00 cwt. ($88 /mt or $80 /nt). These numbers will probably stay the same for the rest of the month unless we see some major increases in the scrap market, which has been rising slightly. If Nucor's stable pricing policy is behind us, we may see domestic prices go up by another $10 /nt to $15 /nt ($11 /mt to $17 /mt or $0.50 cwt. to $0.75 cwt.) next month.