Although US domestic wire rod mills announced last week a $1.00 cwt. ($20/nt or $22/mt) transaction price increase effective with shipments May 1, sources tell SteelOrbis that it’s very unlikely that any of it will pass through to market prices. As mentioned last week, US wire rod prices are already under significant pressure from lackluster demand and a surge of imports at the ports, and the only effect the increase has a shot at having is preventing spot prices from dropping any further. As such, there has not been any reported flurry of buying activity ahead of the increase, leaving spot prices in the general range of $33.50-$34.50 cwt. ($670-$690/nt or $739-$761/mt) ex-mill.
Future import orders, meanwhile, are also taking a backseat to currently arriving shipments. Chinese wire rod ordered before the announcement of the trade case against it is still flowing into ports at increasing rates. As of April 15, over 64,000 mt of Chinese wire rod has already arrived into the US for the month, nearly surpassing March’s total of 67,021 mt from the country, according to US import license data. Traders have thus found difficulty arousing interest for Turkish wire rod in the offer price range of $31.00-$32.00 cwt. ($620-$640/nt or $683-$705/mt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, when Chinese positions are reportedly available for around $2.00 cwt. ($40/nt or $44/mt) less.