Chicago Shredded Scrap finalized last Friday at $380/ton up $20/ton from the prior month. Despite a weak export market, the scrap price rallied on restocking needs of the Domestic mills heading into the New Year. Also on Friday, one of the major domestic rebar manufacturers wasted little time in following the scrap increase and announced a $30/ton increase in rebar pricing effective immediately on all new orders. The market will watch this week to see if the other rebar manufacturers will come up with increases of their own to support the move. In November, a similar announcement was made but not supported by all the mills. This time, however, given the timing heading into the New Year, along with the recent shift in raw materials pricing, it is expected this increase will have support from the other mills this week and Domestic mills will be looking to try to move the rebar market price up.
We will continue to keep you posted with developments in the rebar market.