Steel Wire Rod (SAE 1006 / 1008, Mesh & High-Carbon)

Low-carbon drawing rod and mesh-quality rod in 5.5–16 mm coils

Wire rod is coiled rod from a high-speed rod mill and it is bought by what you draw it into. Low-carbon drawing quality — SAE 1006 (carbon ≤ 0.08%) and SAE 1008 (0.08–0.10%), with the Chinese Q195 and Q235 alongside — is the bulk of the trade and feeds galvanised wire, nails, mesh, binding wire and fencing. Mesh quality rod is SAE 1008 / 1010 with a controlled tensile range so the welded mesh line gets consistent weld nuggets. High-carbon rod (SAE 1055–1080, carbon 0.55–0.85%) goes to prestressing strand, springs, rope and tyre cord and is a different mill, a different price and a different inspection regime. Diameters run 5.5, 6.5, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 mm, coils weigh 2–2.5 MT, and the specification the wire drawer cares about beyond chemistry is drawability: surface free of laps and seams, scale that pickles or mechanically descales cleanly, and a decarburisation depth limit for high-carbon grades. Manganese sits at 0.30–0.60% for low-carbon rod; sulphur and phosphorus at ≤ 0.040–0.050%; and a low-residuals requirement (copper, chromium, nickel, tin) is written in where the rod is drawn fine or galvanised.

The 2025 seaborne rod trade sits in Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean. UN Comtrade 2025 export declarations put Malaysia at 1.29 Mt (USD 564/MT declared), Indonesia at 0.97 Mt (USD 488), Egypt at 0.39 Mt (USD 696), India at 0.29 Mt (USD 514), Brazil at 0.28 Mt (USD 635) and Canada at 0.23 Mt, out of 17 declaring origins. The gap between Indonesian and Egyptian declared values covers the difference between a scrap-based mill selling commodity mesh rod and a DRI-based mill selling low-residual drawing rod, and a wire drawer pays it where fine-wire breakage rates or a galvanising line make it back. CBIL brokers wire rod from Malaysian, Indonesian, Indian, Egyptian and Gulf mills to wire drawers, mesh plants, nail and fastener makers and stockists as a commodity brokerage company, against mill test certificates and third-party inspection of chemistry, diameter, coil weight and surface. Parcels are worked in Handysize and Supramax breakbulk or on multipurpose tonnage, coils strapped and stowed to suit your discharge gear, on FOB and CFR terms; CBIL's chartering desk (LaycanDesk) quotes the freight alongside the cargo. Send your grade, diameter mix, coil-weight limit and whether the rod is going to a drawing line, a mesh welder or a nail plant, because that sets the specification more than the standard name does.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices steel coil and plates breakbulk freight on LaycanDesk.