US wire rod prices jumped higher on March 12 after major US rod mills announced price increases during the week and firm market conditions persisted.
Platts’ weekly Midwest mesh quality wire rod assessment rose to $890-$920/st ex-works on March 12, up from $840-$860/st the previous week.
While wire rod prices remained at a nine-year high, with market sources indicating that ongoing supply tightness and upcoming outages would support the higher price levels.
Evraz NA kicked off the round of price increases with a $40/st price hike. Nucor followed the move with a $30/st price increase, while Liberty Steel and Optimus Steel raised wire rod prices by $50/st.
The moves marked the second round of wire rod increases in 2021, but the fifth round since rod prices bottomed out in September. In total, the five price hikes added up to $310-$340/st, depending on the mill. Amid rising scrap costs and tightening supply, rod mills have been able to realize all of the price hikes.
One buyer noted that announced increases were lower than his expectations, but added that mills had not adjusted prices in February when scrap costs fell.
With domestic supply tightness not expected to ease in the near term, several buyers were heard to have booked imports or were considering buying imported material.
“We are looking at a couple import opportunities,” said a second buyer. “It is clear that domestics are not capable of meeting demand before giving effect to inevitable unplanned outages that will crop up.” A third buyer had already booked imported material, as did the first buyer. “We’ve seen more import offers in the last month than we’ve seen all year, combined,” said the third buyer, who noted a tradable value at $900-$920/st for smaller volume buyers following the domestic price increases. “Prior to the latest couple of domestic price increases, they’ve seemed too high. In hindsight, although they were higher than domestic prices upon offer, they would have been slightly lower than the current domestic prices [upon arrival],” he added.
Despite the pricing announcements, a fourth buyer was still waiting for a response on his inquiries. “I’m pushing to get commitments, but not successfully,” said the source. “I have yet to receive a confirmed price for April.”
Disclaimer: this article is from the SBB STEEL MARKET DAILY, the copyright belongs to the original author, and only represents the original author's viewpoint.
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