Steady raw material costs and increasing demand from the automotive and construction sectors have kept wire rod prices in the United States firm, market participants said.
Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel wire rod (low carbon) industrial quality, fob mill US held at $29-29.50 per hundredweight ($580-590 per short ton) on Tuesday August 18. This is down by 8.6% from $31.50-32.50 year over year. The consumer buying price of shredded auto scrap, delivered mill Chicago - a key input material in the production of industrial-quality, low-carbon wire rod - settled flat at $235 per gross ton in August's scrap trade. "The...