Demand is still reportedly muted in the US domestic wire rod market, and sources say US wire rod mills have largely abandoned their formally-announced December price increase. Spot prices are actually softening, sources say, thanks to another month of sideways scrap prices and mills competing against each other with imports mostly out of the picture.
Registering a modest $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) decrease week-on-week, US domestic wire rod spot prices are now ranging from $40.00-$41.00 cwt. ($882-$904/mt or $800-$820/nt) ex-mill, and sources say the probability is high of further small downticks in the near term.