US rebar market – Import suppliers and US customers at a stalemate

Inflated inventories are still plaguing rebar distributors in the US. However, distributors are still selling well, with demand continuing to hold steady. While the housing sector has weakened significantly, fabricators are busy, since demand from the commercial construction sector is still strong. Domestic rebar prices still range from $27.90 cwt. to $28.40 cwt. ($615 /mt to $626 /mt or $558 /nt to $568 /nt) ex mill. Usual price extras apply for smaller sizes and grade 60. For now, the domestic pricing trend remains neutral as strong demand balances out the excess supply. Nucor and other domestic producers have not yet announced October prices, though it is likely that prices will remain the same. As for import rebar, Turkish prices are going up, but no one is paying the higher prices the mills are asking for. At the moment, import suppliers and US customers are locked in stalemate, as suppliers want to increase prices while customers seek to lower them. However, even though billet prices are rising in the world markets, there is a greater likelihood the import market will go down rather than up since the US is not going to need any new import rebar shipments until next year. Most import offers still range from $26.00 cwt. to $27.00 cwt. ($573 /mt to $595 /mt or $520 /nt to $540 /nt) FOB loaded truck, in US Gulf ports. Right now, the best rebar offers are coming from Brazil, towards the lower side of the above range. The local steel market has noticeably slowed down in Brazil, and this should trigger more exports at competitive figures for a certain period. License data from the US Steel Import Monitor shows that in the month of August 2006, Turkey continued to be the largest import supplier of rebar to the US, exporting 68,091 mt; followed by Japan at 27,445 mt; Egypt at 13,871 mt; Brazil at 13,704 mt; and Taiwan at 10,502 mt.