US wire rod market – High carbon sees slight increase

While the planned $20 /nt ($22 /mt or $1.00 cwt.) August increase for low carbon rods was not accepted by the market, the high carbon price increase has been partially realized. Domestic low carbon offers still range from $27.00 cwt. to $28.00 cwt. ($595 /mt to $617 /mt or $540 /nt to $560 /nt) FOB mill for low carbon, but high carbon offers have gone up by about $10 /nt since late last month, now ranging from $30.00 cwt. to $32.00 cwt. ($661 /mt to $705 /mt or $600 /nt to $640 /nt) FOB mill. As mentioned in our last report, high carbon prices were able to move up because there is less import competition and tighter supplies of these rods, compared to low carbon rods. The general pricing trend for the domestic wire rod market is still neutral. Demand is still decent, but inventories are sufficient, and the US economy is slowing down considerably. In other domestic news, domestic rod mills continue to run without any major production interruptions. Gerdau's New Jersey and Beaumont rod mill employees continue to work without a contract, and there is no strike or lockout in sight for either of these locations. The Sicartsa strike continues in Mexico, however, as mentioned in our previous report, Chinese imports have helped to ease the tightness in the country's wire rod supply. As for the import wire rod market, the Chinese wire rod market has recovered slightly, and the prices in their home market are not slipping further. Therefore, their export prices should stabilize for the time being. However, the import wire rod pricing trend is still slightly down, as we are approaching the end of the year, and there are very few orders booked for the next couple months. Mesh grade import offers in the market still range from $24.00 cwt. to $25.00 cwt. ($529 /mt to $551 /mt or $480 /nt to $500 /nt) FOB, loaded-truck, in US Gulf, and industrial quality (drawing) wire is still ranging from $25.75 cwt. to $26.75 cwt. ($568 /mt to $590 /mt or $515 /nt to $535 /nt) FOB, loaded-truck, in US Gulf ports. Final census data from the US import monitor shows that in the first five months of 2006, the top five countries from which the US imported the most wire rods were: China 357,529 mt (+ 1.5% YTD May 2005), Turkey 148,910 mt ( - 1.1%); Canada 129,770 mt ( - 5.8%); Germany 57,310 mt (- 48.7%) and Brazil 54,918 mt ( - 8.5%).