Although US wire rod mills announced a $4.00 cwt. ($88/mt or $80/nt) price increase last week, sources tell SteelOrbis the only effect so far has been a slight tightening on the low end of the price range. Overall, wire rod prices have not absorbed the price increase, and sources are skeptical that much, if any of it will in the coming weeks. Despite steady demand and predictions of another scrap price increase next month, sources say buyers are “losing their appetite” for high-priced domestic material, especially with the holidays approaching and tariff-free imports from Europe are “right around the corner.”
For now, US domestic wire rod spot prices are at $54.00-$56.00 cwt. ($1,191-$1,234/mt or $1,080-$1,120/nt) ex-mill, up $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) on the low end in the last week.