Demand within the US domestic wire rod market is slower than sources believed it would be after the Labor Day holiday, and with US domestic scrap prices dropping unexpectedly this month, the trend for wire rod was already expected to continue moving downward before Nucor announced an official price decrease earlier this week.
While some sources say the $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt) price decrease announcement was more of a way to account for recent price slips, others say it might not be the last decrease announcement before the end of the year if demand doesn’t pick up. Either way, US domestic wire rod spot prices are down this week, to $51.00-$52.00 cwt. ($1,124-$1,146/mt or $1,020-$1,040/nt) ex-mill.