Wire rod prices by country (HS 7213)
Last updated
Wire rod (HS 7213) crossed borders at a median 669 USD per tonne inbound and 694 outbound in 2024, down 7.2 % against 2023, counted over 33 reporting markets.
Wire rod is the cheapest steel in this dataset and the closest thing in it to a pure commodity. It sits one step past billet, and its price tracks scrap and billet more faithfully than any flat product does, which makes it a useful sanity check on whether a market is expensive overall or only expensive in finished goods.
- 669 USD/tmedian import unit value, 2024
- 33reporting markets
- HS 7213customs heading
Median import unit value in other units: 669 USD/t · 0.67 USD/kg · 0.303 USD/lb
What importers declared
What each market paid for wire rod, 2024
| Country | Tonnes | USD/tonne | Value (USD m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 1,172,496 | 639 | 748.7 |
| Germany | 1,051,900 | 762 | 801.1 |
| Netherlands | 836,859 | 495 | 414.2 |
| Türkiye | 808,799 | 669 | 540.7 |
| Romania | 734,145 | 643 | 472.0 |
| Italy | 554,050 | 737 | 408.3 |
| Poland | 479,351 | 682 | 327.1 |
| Australia | 307,287 | 679 | 208.5 |
| Morocco | 244,909 | 664 | 162.7 |
| Canada | 244,708 | 790 | 193.2 |
| Egypt | 236,161 | 714 | 168.7 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 200,409 | 607 | 121.6 |
| Saudi Arabia | 195,715 | 602 | 117.8 |
| Senegal | 168,454 | 492 | 82.9 |
| Ghana | 147,014 | 657 | 96.6 |
| United Kingdom | 145,106 | 702 | 101.8 |
| Tanzania | 134,518 | 598 | 80.5 |
| Kazakhstan | 108,746 | 561 | 61.1 |
| Kuwait | 87,621 | 688 | 60.3 |
| Algeria | 63,176 | 711 | 44.9 |
| Jordan | 61,281 | 614 | 37.6 |
| Mexico | 56,493 | 641 | 36.2 |
| Uzbekistan | 50,198 | 672 | 33.7 |
| Kenya | 44,930 | 592 | 26.6 |
| Qatar | 42,886 | 624 | 26.8 |
| Bahrain | 36,304 | 753 | 27.4 |
| South Africa | 28,773 | 720 | 20.7 |
| Oman | 24,328 | 586 | 14.3 |
| Lebanon | 23,162 | 703 | 16.3 |
| United Arab Emirates | 15,244 | 655 | 10.0 |
| Tunisia | 15,029 | 704 | 10.6 |
| Nigeria | 6,257 | 698 | 4.4 |
| Iraq | 70 | 3,037 | 0.2 |
Sorted by tonnage. Because import values are declared CIF in almost every system here, distance is baked into the price.
What exporters declared
What each exporter received for wire rod, 2024
| Country | Tonnes | USD/tonne | Value (USD m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 3,605,841 | 710 | 2,561.6 |
| Türkiye | 1,840,142 | 610 | 1,121.8 |
| Italy | 1,051,367 | 646 | 679.1 |
| Spain | 720,185 | 747 | 538.0 |
| Egypt | 449,914 | 718 | 323.2 |
| Poland | 431,431 | 718 | 309.6 |
| Canada | 366,192 | 969 | 354.8 |
| South Africa | 317,981 | 582 | 184.9 |
| United Kingdom | 198,433 | 765 | 151.7 |
| Saudi Arabia | 189,921 | 575 | 109.1 |
| United Arab Emirates | 179,251 | 610 | 109.3 |
| Oman | 145,818 | 590 | 86.0 |
| Algeria | 95,041 | 673 | 63.9 |
| Senegal | 29,177 | 480 | 14.0 |
| Tunisia | 26,863 | 677 | 18.2 |
| Ghana | 26,014 | 777 | 20.2 |
| Netherlands | 21,583 | 743 | 16.0 |
| Romania | 12,016 | 729 | 8.8 |
| Nigeria | 7,312 | 383 | 2.8 |
| Kazakhstan | 5,064 | 578 | 2.9 |
| Uzbekistan | 1,352 | 594 | 0.8 |
| Jordan | 1,334 | 618 | 0.8 |
| Australia | 523 | 872 | 0.5 |
| Kenya | 264 | 835 | 0.2 |
| Tanzania | 129 | 535 | 0.1 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 98 | 1,064 | 0.1 |
| Bahrain | 13 | 737 | 0.0 |
| Kuwait | 3 | 844 | 0.0 |
Export declarations are made FOB, which is why they sit below the import column on the same heading.
Reading the wire rod numbers
- Rod runs from Senegal at 492 USD per tonne to Iraq at 3,037, 517 % between them. On a product this close to raw steel, most of that gap is freight and duty rather than specification.
- Reporting markets took in 8,326,379 tonnes of wire rod in 2024 for 5,478 million dollars; Spain alone was 14 % of the tonnage.
- Côte d'Ivoire shows the widest processing margin, 457 USD per tonne, which for rod means drawing, meshing or fastener making inside the same borders.
What sits inside HS 7213
The cheapest steel in the table and the closest to scrap and billet pricing. A market that imports rod usually has wire drawers but no rod mill.
- A country that imports rod but exports wire has wire drawers and no rod mill. That pattern is visible in the partner tables more clearly than in any price.
- Mesh quality, drawing quality and cold-heading quality are different steels at different prices, all reporting as one heading.
- Rod is sold in coils of one to two and a half tonnes; coil weight affects the drawer's productivity and therefore what they will pay.
- Because rod tracks billet, its unit value is the earliest of the headings here to react when scrap moves.
Why a customs heading is wider than a product specification →
Need a price for your size list?
Rod is priced on grade, diameter and coil weight — tell us the drawing application and the annual tonnage.
Wire rod unit values by year
Median customs unit value for HS 7213 by year, USD per tonne
| Year | Import median | Export median | Export change | Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 556 | 486 | — | 15 |
| 2021 | 832 | 839 | +72.6 % | 14 |
| 2022 | 915 | 922 | +9.9 % | 12 |
| 2023 | 750 | 748 | -18.9 % | 23 |
| 2024 | 669 | 694 | -7.2 % | 26 |
Rod sits one rolling pass from billet, so this series turns earlier and harder than any finished product on the site. Use it as the leading line when reading the others.
Which markets moved, and when
Export unit value by market and year, USD per tonne (HS 7213)
| Market | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 484 | 654 | 719 | 699 | 575 |
| Türkiye | 461 | 731 | — | 629 | 610 |
| Egypt | — | 865 | — | 765 | 718 |
| Kazakhstan | 485 | — | — | 637 | 578 |
| Nigeria | — | 888 | — | 889 | 383 |
| Romania | — | — | 895 | 961 | 729 |
Blank cells mean the market reported no export of this heading that year, or the declared mass was too small to give a meaningful unit value.
Questions about wire rod prices
What is the world price of steel wire rod?
Across 33 markets the median customs unit value for HS 7213 came to 669 USD per tonne on import and 694 on export in 2024. Wire rod is the closest thing in this dataset to a raw semi-finished price: it is one rolling step from billet, so it tracks scrap and billet more directly than any finished flat product.
Is wire rod getting cheaper?
The median export unit value moved down by -7.2 % from 2023 to 2024. Rod responds fast to scrap because the conversion cost is thin — there is little margin to absorb a swing, so the pass-through is quicker than in coated sheet.
Why does rod range from 492 to 3,037 per tonne?
Grade. Low-carbon mesh rod and high-carbon cord or spring rod are the same heading and a different business. Senegal is buying at the drawing end of the range while Iraq pays for cleanliness, close carbon control and cast-and-heat traceability.
Can rod unit values be used to estimate wire prices?
As a floor, yes. Drawn wire must cost more than the rod it came from — compare this heading with HS 7217 and the difference is the drawing, coating and packing. When that gap compresses, drawers are under margin pressure.
What is inside HS 7213?
Hot-rolled bars and rods in irregularly wound coils, iron or non-alloy steel. Straight bar goes to HS 7214; drawn wire goes to HS 7217.