Declining ferrous scrap costs combined with continued slow demand have worked to bring US steel reinforcing bar prices to their lowest levels in nearly 15 months.
Fastmarkets AMM's biweekly price assessment for US domestic rebar fell to $32.50-33.50 per hundredweight ($650-670 per short ton) fob mill on Wednesday June 19, down by 2.2% from $33.50-34 per cwt two weeks ago. The assessment last averaged below $33 per cwt in mid-March 2018, according to Fastmarkets' pricing data.Domestic rebar prices have declined by 8% since late-February mill price increases pushed the assessment to a more than six-year high of $35.25-36.50 per cwt in early March.At the same time, Fastmarkets' assessment for imported rebar declined to $640-660 per ton cfr Port of Houston, down by 3% from $650-670 per ton previously.Lead times range from stock availability up to two or three weeks, according to a rebar buyer source. Scrap, slower demand hitting domestic prices"Seems like it's a combo of scrap going down and demand weaker than expected," a rebar consumer said of the price fall. "I think scrap is the main reason...