Recent price hikes issued by US rebar producers continued to show strength in the market this week as higher offers were heard in the US Southeast, according to market sources.
"We are seeing the increases that were announced having an impact on the market," a fabricator in the region said.
At the start of the month, Nucor, Gerdau Long Steel North America, Steel Dynamics Inc. and Commercial Metals Co. independently announced $25/st increases on rebar transaction prices, effective with new orders December 2. The increases mark the third round of price hikes in as many months. US producers previously raised rebar prices $30/st in November and $20/st in October.
Offers from domestic mills for rebar were heard as high as $540/st ex-works in the Southeast Tuesday, however others said this would only represent the high end of the current price range. Others put pricing closer to $520-$530/st ex-works.
S&P Global Platts on Tuesday raised its daily US Southeast rebar assessment to $520-$540/st ex-works, up from $510-$520/st.
The mills do not seem to have an abundance of stock on the ground, which is helping higher prices to stick, said a distributor in the region. However, the fabricator said while mills may have closed rollings for the remainder of the year, they still seem to have enough inventory on hand to satisfy demand.
Higher import pricing is also continuing to have a positive impact on the domestic rebar market, sources said. After offers soared in recent months, Turkish pricing has peaked at $460/mt CFR Houston ($423/st CIF), the distributor said, however nothing really firm is currently being offered for March arrivals.
Platts on Tuesday raised its daily US imported rebar assessment to $413-$423/st CIF Houston, up from $404-$413/st CIF.
Domestic rebar pricing will likely stay relatively stable approaching year-end due the typical seasonal slowdown associated with the holidays, sources said, but there could be another increase in January if the current increase holds and scrap prices rise again as expected.
"With scrap gearing up to go even higher there is a possibility rebar could go up again, but I don't think the current increase is stable enough to see another increase before then," the fabricator said.
