SteelOrbis reported last week that not only were US domestic wire rod mills unlikely to capture the second half of their October $2.00 cwt. ($40/nt or $44/mt) price increase, the first half of the increase that was already absorbed into the market faced pressure from this month’s scrap price decline. This week, sources tell SteelOrbis that transactions on the high end of the spot range are “virtually nonexistent,” and the lower end of the range is increasingly vulnerable to deals.
US domestic wire rod spot prices are now ranging from $31.00-$31.50 cwt. ($620-$630/nt or $683-$694/mt) ex-mill, reflecting a $0.50 cwt. ($10/nt or $11/mt) drop from the top end of the range in the last week. Deals under the lower end of the range are still considered outliers, sources say, but that level could drop as well if dealmaking becomes more widespread.