Month End Market News
As August ends, the rebar market continues to plug along. Certain regions throughout the US remain very strong with limited supply and strong demand, while other regions are faring much better with strong supply able to satisfy the rebar demand. The West and upper Midwest are the tightest markets in the country, while the Northeast and Southeast have a stronger supply picture as August ends. The southern Gulf market remains somewhere in between. Not surprisingly, the market is starting to see products from the regions with excess supply start moving to the tighter regions to help equalize supply throughout the country. Most agree that demand is solid in most every region on the backs of infrastructure, data storage, and energy demand.
Domestic mills continue to enjoy solid backlogs and low inventory throughout the country. In the regions that are tightest, mills continue to report being “sold out,” and lead times are longer than normal. In the regions that mills have excess supply, those mills are sending product to help supplement the sister mills in the tighter regions. The result is all regions can report tight supply and healthy demand. Mills have hinted at price increases, but heading into the fall and winter months, most odds are the mills will hold pricing at current levels moving forward with little threat of imports and a stable raw materials market.
On the import side, August did very little to help the import rebar picture. Stable domestic pricing and domestic supply availability did not encourage buyers to make large purchases from foreign mills. Import pricing still struggles under the weight of a 50% tariff so that even the most competitive offers are barely cheaper than domestic pricing. Add to it the long lead times, and the risk is not worth the reward to bring in imports. Not surprisingly, most expect import rebar arrivals to fall off as we close 2026.
On the scrap front, scrap is expected to remain stable in September. Scrap dealers have an adequate supply to meet mill demands as several mills look to take outages late in the year that will curb their demand for scrap. While most expect a sideways move for the month, there is a small portion of the market that suggests scrap may even show signs of weakness on the heels of strong supply and only moderate demand from the mills. Any prediction of a September rally remains few and far between. Expect scrap to settle late this week or early next, at which time we will update you accordingly.
In the meantime, have a great start to September.
