The import
wire rod market is still trending up, with prices increasing by approximately $0.50 cwt. ($11 /mt or $10 /nt) since last week. Most import
wire rod offers to the
US now range from $23.75 cwt. to $24.75 cwt. ($524 /mt to $546 /mt or $475 /nt to $495 /nt) for mesh grade and from $25.50 cwt. to $26.50 cwt. ($562 /mt to $584 /mt or $510 /nt to $530 /nt) for drawing quality. However, certain Chinese mills are offering a small discount for Chinese grades and for sizes 6.5 mm and larger. As the
US wire rod market is still not that strong, many typical import sources are offering to destinations other than the
US. This is especially the case for IQ grades. Usual IQ sources such as Trinidad,
Venezuela, and
Mexico are now offering to the strengthening markets in Latin America and
Europe instead of to the United States.
US wire rod inventories are getting lower overall, though there is still a larger
wire rod supply than
rebar due to the surplus of Chinese
wire rod imports that arrived during the second half of last year. The pricing gap between rebars and
wire rod is widening almost daily and in some instances is as high as $100 /mt. However,
wire mesh producers are not unhappy about the higher
rebar prices since mesh and
rebar producers in many instances are competitors for the same end-use applications. The current gap between
wire rod and
rebar prices might allow welded
wire mesh to gain a larger market share and possibly attract higher prices as well. Add to this the fact that shredded
scrap prices are also trending upwards, and we have a situation where domestic
wire rod mills will be asking for higher prices. It is expected that they will announce a price increase for April shipments. Some market players even predict a tight supply situation for the second quarter. For now, domestic prices still range from $24.50 cwt. to $25.50 cwt. ($540 /mt to $562 /mt or $490 /nt to $510 /nt) for low carbon, and from $27.00 cwt. to $28.00 cwt. ($595 /mt to $617 /mt or $540 /nt to $560 /nt) for high carbon. Preliminary license data from the
US Import Steel Monitor shows that during the month of December, the
US imported a total of 152,694 mt of
wire rod compared to 193,998 mt in November and 236,278 mt in October.
Wire rod imports for January thus far total 150,358 mt.
China remained by and large the largest import source for
wire rod to the
US in 2006, exporting a total of 1,145,449 mt from January through November 2006, followed by
Canada at 271,833 mt, and
Turkey at 227,631 mt.