US wire rod market – Weakness in domestic market worrisome to rest of the world

Import wire rod suppliers and US wire rod buyers are still at a standstill, as the import suppliers do not want to compromise their prices while the US domestic market wants prices to go down. Chinese and Turkish offering prices for the US are holding steady, with mesh grade still ranging on average from $23.50 cwt. to $24.50 cwt. ($518 /mt to $540 /mt or $470 /nt to $490 /nt) FOB, loaded-truck, in US Gulf ports. Import drawing quality rod prices still range from $25.00 cwt. to $26.00 cwt. ($551 /mt to $573 /mt or $500 /nt to $520 /nt) FOB, loaded-truck, in US Gulf ports. For now, the import pricing trend is still flat. There are very few new Chinese offers in the market, as they are not offering for December rolling yet. They are expected to be back in the market next week. It is still up for debate whether Chinese offering prices will go up or down once they are back in the market. The Chinese domestic market is still steady, though it usually experiences some seasonal softness in December, when construction slows down. Still, the other steel sectors in the Chinese market remain strong, so they may raise prices for December or at least keep them steady. The US market is quite weak when compared to the other world markets. The market in Europe is still strong, though it is now slowing down a bit. The Middle East wire rod market, though not one of the major markets, is also still doing well. In the US, however, business is slow and the pricing trend continues to move in a downward direction, a situation that the global steel market is finding increasingly worrisome. Low carbon rod offers in the US have not deteriorated further since last week, however, and still range from $26.00 cwt. to $27.00 cwt. ($573 /mt to $595 /mt or $520 /nt to $540 /nt) FOB mill. High carbon offers still range from $29.00 cwt. to $31.00 cwt. ($639 /mt to $683 /mt or $580 /nt to $620 /nt) FOB mill. The last decrease occurred last week, when low and high carbon prices went down $20 /nt from previous levels.