Prices for domestic and imported merchant bar quality (MBQ) steel in the United States remained flat in the face of steadily rising demand from the construction industry in the West and the South as well as service centers rebuilding their inventories.
Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel bar 2 x 2 x 1/4 -inch angle merchant products, fob mill US held steady at $35.30 per hundredweight ($706 per short ton) on Friday October 30. The price rose by 4.4% to reach that level on September 25 after holding at $33.80 per cwt since April 24."I received a couple of orders [for merchant bar] at prices close to domestic...