Posted on 28 Aug 2020
The rebar and wire rod import markets have continued to rise in Southeast Asia, Kallanish notes.
Offers for Vietnamese wire rod are prevailing at around $485/tonne cfr Manila, Manila-based trading sources report. Deals have been struck for induction furnace wire rod at $480/t cfr, up from $10/t two weeks ago.
A Vietnamese trader reports that blast furnace wire rod from a Vietnamese mill was offered earlier in the week at $486/t cfr Manila while another says another mill sold blast furnace wire rod at $485/t cfr. Buyers in the Philippines are price-sensitive and do not differentiate much between blast furnace and induction wire rod, the second trader says.
A 1,500t parcel of low-carbon wire rod from China sold at around $510/t cfr Manila. “It is a one-off deal because nobody else is willing to pay at this level,” a trader notes.
Kallanish assessed SAE 1008 6.5mm diameter mesh-grade wire rod at $480-485/t cfr Manila on Thursday, up $2.5 on-week.
Similarly, the rebar import market has firmed in Hong Kong. A cargo for Turkish rebar was heard earlier in the week booked at $470-475/t cfr Hong Kong, actual weight basis. The buyer booked the November shipment cargo to replenish stocks in December, an importing source says. He was, however, unable to confirm reports that a second cargo was also sold to Hong Kong.
In Singapore, a Turkish rebar cargo was also heard booked at $465/t cfr Singapore theoretical weight basis. A Singapore trader believes that if the deal did take place, the cargo probably went to a trader. Construction activity is greartly hampered by labour shortages in Singapore because of enforced measures including quarantines to control the pandemic. “There is still a lot of uncertainty regarding workers returning to job sites,” a Singapore trader says. Stockists are holding high stocks too, he adds.
Chinese rebar is currently offered at $500-510/t cfr Singapore. On Thursday, Kallanish raised its weekly BS4449 500B 10-40mm diameter rebar price at $455-460/t cfr Singapore theoretical weight, up $17.5 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
