Domestic wire rod producers are still attempting to prevent price erosion; however, scrap price decreases and lack of demand may render them unsuccessful.
Sources say that the $40 /nt ($44 /mt or $2.00 cwt.) June price increase announced by Ivaco, a smaller wire rod producer, is unlikely to succeed, especially since most buyers have already fixed their prices for the duration of June. Most of the major producers are just trying to prevent price decay in the face of the raw material decreases and slow buying activity.
The domestic pricing trend remains neutral, with most low carbon wire rod offers on the market continuing to range from $29.00 cwt. to $30.00 cwt. ($640 /mt to $661 /mt or $580 /nt to $600 /nt) FOB mill. High carbon offers still range from $31.50 cwt. to $32.50 cwt. ($694 /mt to $717 /mt or $630 /nt to $650 /nt) FOB mill.
On the contrary, import wire rod offering prices have increased by approximately $0.50 cwt. ($11 /mt or $10 /nt) since last week, with most import offers for mesh grade wire rod now ranging from $27.75 cwt. to $28.75 cwt. ($612 /mt to $634 /mt or $555 /nt to $575 /nt) FOB, loaded truck, in US Gulf ports. Drawing quality offers now range from $29.50 cwt. to $30.50 cwt. ($650 /mt to $672 /mt or $590 /nt to $610 /nt) FOB, loaded truck, in US Gulf ports.
These new prices face a lot of resistance from US buyers since the US domestic market is flat. Also, sources say that Chinese wire rods have flooded the European markets, and these markets are now demanding better numbers than the Chinese mills were previously offering. But despite the slowdown in demand from their main export markets, China's home market is heating up, so their offering prices for the US market are not expected to go down anytime soon. The pricing trend for import wire rod remains slightly up.