Wire rod prices in the United States are stable after February's scrap decline halted the upward trajectory recorded over the past three months, but extended lead times and increased demand have sparked optimism among market participants.
Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel wire rod (low carbon) industrial quality, fob mill US was at $31-32 per hundredweight ($620-640 per short ton) on Tuesday February 18, unchanged from the previous month. Opinions diverged on whether mills were willing to adjust prices after February's $20-per-gross-ton decline in the cost of Chicago shredded scrap."Though scrap went down, we are not changing rod pricing," one US mill source said. Wire rod buyers, on the other hand, confirmed some mills were willing to adjust prices lower. On the supply side, industrial-quality wire rod lead times have gone out to six to eight weeks,...