US domestic rebar pricing was reported steady this week, while wire rod pricing maintained its supply-inspired premium this week due to Liberty Steel’s continued halt in production.
“The recent price jump seems to have been successful (for wire rod), at least for now,” one market insider told SteelOrbis this week. “Liberty Steel claims they will resume production, but until we hear a realistic assessment there is still skepticism surrounding this outage.”
As Liberty Steel continues to cause disruptions in the local markets, most spot market wire rod transactions were reported this week at $39.00-41.00/cwt. ($780-820/nt or $860-904/mt), or an average of $40.00/cwt. ($800/nt or $882/mt), unchanged from a week earlier.
In the weekly rebar spot markets, domestic supply on a FOB mill basis is assessed with most transactions discussed at $34.50-37.00 cwt. ($690-740/nt or $761-816/mt), although on average $35.75/cwt. ($715/nt or $788/mt), unchanged from seven days ago.
As the November 4 US elections near, market insiders note many market participants remain uncertain about the market due to the anticipated election results.
“Right now, uncertainty in the market remains high because of the US presidential elections,” said another rebar trader. “Things should be better once we know the election results.”
In the longer term, issues relating to yearly tax liability also are affecting spot market activity. Insiders say market purchases during the months of November and December could be reduced as suppliers draw down existing inventories of long steel to avoid mandatory tax on supply that remains on the ground as of January 1.
“Everyone is looking to 2025 deliveries because of the inventory tax coming up at the end of this year,” said a US Gulf Coast rebar dealer. As a result, fewer people overall, are interested in November and December supply.”