Although demand in the US domestic wire rod market has not improved much in the last few months, that has never stopped US mills from taking advantage of tangent trends to boost market prices. As such, sources tell SteelOrbis that mills might take cues from recent developments in the US rebar market--the slight $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) transaction price increase for rebar announced this week could boost US wire rod mills' confidence, leading them to quietly raise prices to customers on a case-by-case basis. For now, US domestic wire rod prices remain in the range of $32.00-$33.00 cwt. ($705-$727/mt or $640-$660/nt) ex-mill, but by as early as next week, it will become apparent whether wire rod mills have the gumption to follow rebar mills' lead.
As for imports, Chinese wire rod prices are stable in the range of $28.50-$29.50 cwt. ($628-$650/mt or $570-$590/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, without much indication of a significant trend change on the horizon. Turkish wire rod offers, meanwhile, are also unchanged this week, but due to the holiday in Turkey, traders do not report much activity and do not expect the current offer range of $30.50-$31.50 cwt. ($672-$694/mt or $610-$630/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports to change until after Turkish mills are back to business.