US rebar market still stronger than wire rod market

Shredded scrap has come down $15 /long ton since last month. Nevertheless, it is still probable that Nucor will keep rebar prices stable by increasing its base price by an amount equal to the drop in the Raw Materials Surcharge. While demand for rebar is slow compared to where it was a couple months ago, it is still stronger than demand for wire rod, and we will most likely see domestic producers like Nucor keep prices stable for at least another month. December pricing is still up in the air, though. If scrap prices continue to decline, domestic rebar producers will have no choice other than to lower prices. For now, domestic rebar prices still range from $27.40 cwt. to $27.90 cwt. ($604 /mt to $615 /mt or $548 /nt to $558 /nt) ex mill. The usual price extras apply for smaller sizes and grade 60. The domestic pricing trend is still flat. The market is still very quiet for imports, with very few new offers in evidence. The Turkish rebar mills - a major source for import rebar - are reportedly full until December shipments and are not looking for new US orders just yet. The situation on the ground is less-than-ideal for distributors, as they are now selling their import rebar at rates cheaper than the traders' in order to get rid of their excess inventories before the year-end. However, distributors will eventually run out of material and start buying more import material at the price sought by the Turkish and Taiwanese mills. The pricing trend for import rebars remains slightly up. Completed import rebar transactions 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. License data from the US Steel Import Monitor show that in the month of September, the countries that exported the most rebar to the US were: Turkey at 182,117 mt, Taiwan at 59,244 mt, and Egypt at 29,170 mt. Rebar imports will continue to trickle in during the last three months of the year. However, we expect shipments to slow down significantly in November and December.