Although US wire rod mills made no official price announcement in response to September's scrap price drop, they tried to hold wire rod spot prices firm. But now, as expectations for an October scrap decrease have moved down to $40-$50/long ton, mills have cracked under the pressure and accepted lower wire rod offers from their customers. In general, US domestic wire rod spot prices are now in the range of $32.00-$33.00 cwt. ($705-$728/mt or $640-$660/nt) ex-mill, reflecting a $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) decrease from last week. While a substantial scrap price drop any day now might force mills to make an official announcement, it is just as likely that they will keep prices level on paper while quietly letting spot prices trend further downward.
Import prices, on the other hand, are trending neutral to up; Turkish wire rod prices are stable this week in the range of $31.50-$32.50 cwt. ($694-$717/mt or $630-$650/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, but Chinese prices are looking up, even though the steel industry is currently on holiday. According to traders, last week's range of $29.25-$30.25 cwt. ($645-$667/mt or $585-$605/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports for Chinese wire rod could rise by as much as $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt) when the market comes back on board sometime next week--as reported last week, a recently-passed stimulus bill in China is expected to reverse the downward trend in Chinese long products.