US import rebar and wire rod prices were stable to lower this week as low US domestic demand continues and US steel mills continue to offer their customers discounts to maintain market share, market insiders told SteelOrbis this week.
Import rebar on the US Gulf Coast is discussed on a loaded truck basis $0.50/cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) less on the week at $36.50/cwt. ($805/mt or $730/nt), versus $36.75-$37.25/cwt. ($810-$821/mt or $735-$745/nt), one week ago. US East Coast loaded truck import rebar is discussed unchanged at $37/cwt. ($816/mt or $740/nt), market insiders told SteelOrbis.
Imports from Mexico on a loaded truck Houston basis are discussed at $37/cwt. ($816/mt or $740/nt), versus $37.25/cwt. ($821/mt or $745/nt) seven days ago. Mexican market insiders continue to point to the devaluation of the peso as helping the Mexican export prices to be more competitive with US domestic rebar values. As the peso continues to devalue versus the US dollar, July rebar could land in Houston on a loaded truck basis at $36.25/cwt. ($799/mt or $725/nt), they said.
In the imported wire rod markets, imports from Ukraine are last discussed unchanged at $35-$36/cwt. ($772-$794/mt or $700-$720/nt), on a delivered basis to customers. Lead times for the transit to the US are quoted at 6-8 weeks.
Increased price pressure is coming from global exporters since the June 3 Biden Administration extension of the exemption of Ukraine from the Section 232 tariffs on steel products. The exemption, in effect, allows tariff-free steel billets from Ukraine to be sent to Poland or other EU countries to be turned into rebar, wire rod and mesh products for potential export to the US and abroad.
“Imported rebars and wire rod from the Ukraine and the EU are the only game in town,” one import rebar market insider told SteelOrbis this past week. “The other countries that could potentially deliver wire mesh have to pay the 25 percent tariff so they can’t compete.”
The exemption, which went into effect on June 1, 2022, and now is extended until June 1, 2025, includes a special provision which excludes from the Section 232 tariffs, steel products which are melted and poured in Ukraine and further processed in an EU member state. Steel products which meet This requirement are also not subject to the quota limits of the EU Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) Agreement.
In other long steel grades, Merchant Bar Quality (MBQ) for July delivery is last offered US Gulf Coast FOB port basis at $47/cwt. ($1,036/mt or $940/nt), while US East Coast offerings are heard at $51.00/cwt. ($1,124/mt or $1,020/nt) FOB port. Market insiders said the current July MBQ offerings are about $20/nt ($22/mt) less than pricing heard in March of this year.
Import W-Beams for delivery to the UAE and Europe are discussed at $49/cwt. ($1,080/mt or $980/nt) FOB port US, import market insiders said. Mexico import angles are discussed on a loaded truck basis Houston at $48/cwt. ($1,058/mt or $960/nt).