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Updates From This Week

West Coast Wins, East Coast Competes

As we cruise through the dog days of July, the US steel long products market is showing us a split personality. Depending on which coast you stand on, you are either seeing mills confidently flex their pricing power or scrapers fighting tooth and nail for market share.

The big news this week comes out of the West, where Western rebar mills announced a $30/short ton price increase. This move highlights the region’s robust localized demand and relatively insulated supply dynamics. On the West Coast, the momentum is real, and mills are successfully capitalizing on it.

However, cross the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast, and it is a completely different story:

The Import Pressure: The East Coast has been absorbing a heavy inflow of imports. Preliminary census data earlier this spring showed rebar imports spiking by nearly 46% month-over-month to over 103,000 metric tons, driven by heavy shipments from South Korea and Malaysia.

The Battle for Market Share: New domestic mill capacities are actively ramping up and competing aggressively for market share on the East Coast, leading to highly competitive domestic offers.

The Demand Outlook: Despite this regional divergence, overall US rebar demand remains very decent and is projected to hold steady through the end of 2026. Contractor backlogs are incredibly healthy, meaning domestic mills enjoy a consistent baseline of demand.

While strong backlogs make any broad rebar price decreases highly unlikely, don’t expect a nationwide price hike anytime soon. For the rest of the country, prices are bound to stay flat—especially with raw material costs refusing to go up.

Midwest and Chicago shredded scrap prices are stubbornly flat. Currently, shredded steel scrap is holding sideways at approximately $413/metric ton. Because fuel and operating costs are ticking up—with Brent Crude hovering near $79/barrel—scrap buyers are staying highly selective, and there is zero upward momentum in raw material inputs to justify a mill price hike. Until scrap trends upward, expect national rebar and long product pricing to remain anchored.

Wire Rod: Calm Summer Sailing

On the wire rod side of the ledger, wire makers are enjoying a remarkably quiet, steady summer.

Healthy Cushions: Inventory levels across the board are healthy, giving buyers plenty of cushion to plan their purchases without panic.

Balanced Supply: Domestic mills are keeping up with demand comfortably, and while imports remain a constant presence in the background, we aren't seeing any unexpected surges.

Fewer Foreign Options: The import pipeline has narrowed down to just a few viable offshore options, primarily coming out of Asia.

Domestic Preference: Although Asian import offers have begun softening after a quarter of steady price increases, there is little appetite from US buyers to jump on these foreign deals. With domestic rod readily available and lead times manageable, local buyers are happy to buy American.

Beams and Structurals

Structural beams have been the darling of the long products sector, fueled by the insatiable appetite of Data Center construction. However, the segment is beginning to hit its first major regulatory roadblocks.

Community pushback over energy consumption and land use is transitioning from local grumbling into actual law:

The New York Freeze: In a historic move, the New York State Legislature passed the Responsible Data Center Development Act (S10642/A11560). The bill places a one-year moratorium on permits for new large data centers boasting a peak demand of 20 megawatts (MW) or more.

Project Delays: This legislative friction, alongside growing local moratoriums and grid capacity delays, is starting to delay major projects in the Northeast.

While beam demand remains excellent for currently active builds, these mounting regulatory hurdles could start to pinch the future project pipeline if other states follow New York's lead. Keep a close eye on your regional structural backlogs as developers navigate these new green tape realities.

Weekly Poll

Is the U.S. steel market becoming more regionalized than ever?

Last Week's Poll Result

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From our content partner, SteelOrbis

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US long steel mostly stable to down on low global and local demand, lower scrap cost

Thursday, 16 July 2026 22:45:17 (GMT+3) San Diego

US domestic long steel prices were stable to mostly lower this week amid reports of thin local and global trade and more limited seasonal demand, steady to lower scrap pricing and more reports of increased imports, market insiders said.

As many market participants remain on annual summer vacations -with some mills shuttered for several weeks for annual summer maintenance- insiders report weekly trade remains thin, with price assessments problematic. Recent bad weather across much of the US also is reducing trading activity as construction schedules have been delayed, insiders told SteelOrbis.

Insiders added that since US Gulf Coast rebar import offers (mostly from South Korea and Turkey at $44.50-46.50/nt) remain so close to domestic replacement costs, it’s limiting meaningful arbitrage opportunities, and reducing weekly trade.

“There hasn’t been much change at all in weekly long steel pricing,” remarked one US Northeast-based long steel insider. “People are on vacations, and we’ve been seeing some pretty nasty storms which is slowing (construction activity) down.” He added, “Imports are growing as domestic prices have risen recently, so we’re seeing more long steel coming in than we did this time last year which is pressuring the markets down.”

And, while markets were stable to down slightly, a look at SteelOrbis historical data shows current domestic rebar and wire rod prices remain at their highest levels since October 2022 -the result growing demand mostly from US data center build activities combined with a more recent doubling of Section 232 steel import tariffs enacted by US President Trump in June 2025, which have increased domestic long steel prices making rebar imports a more viable option.

In fact, unlike other finished steel products like flat rolled steel, rebar imports actually are significantly higher this year than last. Preliminary census data from the US Department of Commerce shows that rebar imports totaled 103,510 metric tons in April, 45.9 percent higher than a month earlier in March and a full 89 percent higher compared with the same period in 2025.

On the US Gulf Coast, spot rebar on an FOB mill basis is assessed $0.50/nt less at $46.00-$47.00/nt ($920-940/nt or $1,014-1,036/mt), off from $46.50-47.50/cwt., ($930-950/nt or $1,025-1,047/mt) one week ago.

And, while most of the US saw steady to down rebar pricing this week, Nucor announced $30/nt ($1.50/cwt.) increases in rebar pricing effective for orders from West Coast mills received after close of business July 14. The increases will affect customers buying from the Nucor Bar mills in Seattle, WA., Plymouth, UT, and Kingman, AZ. Insiders said CMC followed Nucor with similar West Coast rebar increases.

In the longer term, market insiders added that a growing sentiment for steady to lower scrap prices for July and now potentially August, could continue to weight on domestic long steel prices, especially rebar, as wire rod markets remain structurally tighter, they said.

In the domestic wire rod markets, prices were unchanged on the week versus previous assessments, with limited trade reported at on average $50.00-51.00/nt ($1,000-1,020/nt or $1,102-1,124/mt). Traders said softer domestic wire rod pricing could be forthcoming soon as additional imported wire rod supplies are made available for export to the US during the third quarter from sellers in Malaysia and Vietnam.

US import long steel prices stable to down on steady to lower July scrap, limited global demand

Friday, 17 July 2026 19:30:50 (GMT+3) San Diego

US Import long steel prices were reported stable to slightly less this week in continued thin trade, as market participants reported lower long steel offers in reaction to flagging raw materials prices mostly in the form of scrap, amid continued limited global steel demand, market insiders told SteelOrbis.

Insiders told SteelOrbis that since rebar import offers (mostly from South Korea and Turkey at $44.50-46.50/nt or $890-930/nt or $981-1,025/mt) remain so close to US domestic replacement costs, that it’s limiting meaningful arbitrage opportunities and reducing weekly trade activity.

“Import offers remain near domestic replacement costs, despite slightly softer international offers this week,” reported one US Gulf Coast long steel insider. “Market participants (in the US) generally expect (domestic) pricing to remain stable through Q3, supported by healthy mill order books and ongoing public infrastructure projects, mostly in the form of new data centers.”

In the import rebar segment, insiders report Turkish rebar export offers at $565-$575/mt, FOB, stable to earlier weekly levels, while Asian price offers were reported lower as suppliers discount pricing in order to move product. Reports of weak seasonal demand, sluggish construction and real estate-related building activity, as well as squeezed global profit margins at mills continue to dominate market conversations regarding Asian long steel product.

“Overall, the demand situation in Asia is not good,” reported another US-based import long steel insider. “So, as a result, suppliers are said to be reducing prices a bit more in order to be able to move their product to global markets. This week’s pricing is really a function of lower demand at the Asian mills.”

On the US Gulf Coast, loaded truck rebar is offered $0.50/cwt., less at at $44.50-45.50/nt ($890-910/nt or $981-1,003/mt), while equivalent US East Coast material was reported flat on the week at $45.50-46.50 ($910-930/nt or $1,003-1,025/mt). Some insiders are reported to be keeping an eye on US East Coast import rebar pricing for signs of potential discounts soon, though a clear consensus remained problematic at press time.

In the wire rod segment, import pricing for wire rod mesh on a DDP loaded truck basis at the US Gulf was discussed steady on the week following earlier declines at $47.50-49.50 ($950-990/nt or $1,047-1,091/mt). And, while pricing was largely flat this week in limited trade, recent declines in import rod markets could resume near term as additional supplies begin to be made available from various “wild card” suppliers from Indonesia and other Asian nations such as Korea and Vietnam.

“We’re seeing long steel pricing mostly stable on the domestic side and a bit less on the import side this week,” the US-based long steel importer added. “Because of solid domestic demand, US mills are not so keen to offer bargain deals right now, even though global steel demand continues to be seasonally weak.”

US domestic ferrous scrap prices diverge in July; primes stay flat; some obsoletes fall by $10/gt

Thursday, 16 July 2026 22:31:25 (GMT+3) San Diego

Ferrous scrap prices for the domestic market remained relatively stable after the July trading cycle. Prime grades trended sideways, as was projected since last month, due to healthy market fundamentals. Some obsolete grades, particularly HMS I and shredded, softened by $10/gt in some markets, particularly in the South and Southeast. These grades were impacted by adequate supply levels and an export market that has been softening for more than a month on both coasts.

Regarding expectations for August, market fundamentals remain strong, such as US steel prices continuing on the rise. The price of hot-rolled coil (HRC) has grown to $1,158/nt ex-works from $1,097/nt ex-works at the beginning of June. The installed utilization capacity rate for the US steel sector in June trended above 80 percent almost entirely, if not for a slight decrease to 79.8 percent during the week of Jun 27, according to data by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). As of the last report, the rate dipped last week to 79.7 percent, but remains high.

Moreover, several car plants in the Midwest will enter maintenance shutdowns this month for a couple of weeks, which could reduce scrap generation from industrial accounts. The hot weather in July and August could impact scrap generation as well and tighten flows.

These positive fundamentals would presuppose an increase in prices for August, yet some contacts are wary of how the scrap sector has had to “scratch & claw” for mere stability while the steel sector has been booming. SteelOrbis recently reported on the apparent lag in scrap prices in the US compared to finished steel prices. There are no specific figures attached to possible, if any, decreases in August. Yet several other contacts believe the US scrap market will retain the relative stability it has enjoyed for prime grades for four months.

In July, prices for the Chicago domestic market remained unchanged for prime grades, with #1 busheling unchanged at $450/gt delivered consumer and #1 bundles at $455/gt delivered. HMS I fell by $10/gt to $355/gt delivered while P&S 5ft was unchanged at $400/gt delivered. MST was unchanged at $255/gt delivered. For shredded, some contacts reported selling the grade at a $10/gt price decrease from July settled prices, while others claimed it stayed unchanged; hence, the price fell by $5/gt to $425/gt delivered.

Some markets in the Ohio Valley were more stable, with domestic prices in the Pittsburgh and Cleveland remaining sideways across the board. While in the south, prime grades were sideways everywhere, with falls by $10/gt in some obsolete grades varied by market. As in the Midwest, nothing dropped by more than $10/gt.

In Houston, the price of #1 busheling remained flat at $410/gt delivered, while HMS I fell by $10/gt to $335/gt delivered. Contacts in the region claimed that some mills were able to buy P&S 5ft was unchanged at $360/gt delivered. Shredded also decreased by $10/gt to $390/gt delivered while MST was unchanged at $250/gt delivered.

USEC

As projected, Philadelphia was the market most affected by the bearish trend in the US East Coast (USEC) export market. There is ample material in the market available, and exporters are numerous and influential. All obsoletes fell by $10/gt in the domestic Philadelphia market, except HMS I, which dropped by $10-20/gt from June and settled at $330-340/gt delivered consumer. P&S 5ft settled at $370/gt delivered, shredded at $400/gt delivered, and machine shop turnings (MST) at $220/gt delivered. Some traders in the Philadelphia market mentioned that some mills were even trying to lower HMS I even more and purchase it below $330/gt delivered, but there were no confirmed sales below that level.

The USEC export market has been softening since the beginning of June; US-origin HMS I/II 80:20 has lost during this period everything it had gained from the end of February to the middle of May. By February 27, it stood at $371/mt CFR Turkey and is back again at $369/mt CFR on Thursday after reaching a high of $414.5/mt CFR. After the end of the Jul 15 Democracy Holiday, there have been rumors of new deep-sea deals to Turkey, yet the trend remains bearish. The export market remains weak for Turkish steel as domestic demand has not been strong either.

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