Posted on 19 Mar 2021
Southeast Asian long products markets have slowed down, Kallanish notes. Buyers are taking their time to commit to high steel prices as the rumoured pending Chinese export rebate cut continues to linger.
In Thailand, offers for blast furnace 6.5mm diameter wire rod from Malaysia and Indonesia are prevailing at $690/t cfr and $695/t cfr respectively. Certain traders are inviting bids for Indian wire rod at $685/t cfr. Weak domestic demand is the main reason for the market sluggishness, traders say. A newcomer mill started offering wire rod earlier this month at THB 21,000/t ($683/t) ex-works, a Bangkok trader says. It has to sell lower in order to penetrate the market, he adds. Others are offering wire rod at around THB 500-700/t more.
Offers for 6.5mm diameter wire rod from regional blast furnace mills are $5-10/tonne higher from last week to prevail at $675-680/t cfr Manila. Chinese wire rod is offered at above $700/t cfr. Trading sources in Manila heard some Malaysian wire rod bookings last week at $665/t cfr Manila but no deals since then. "It is very quiet this week," a Manila trader says. Buyers cannot catch up with the rise in steel prices, especially since the country continues to battles with the pandemic, he adds. Business has slowed while infection rates go up and another threat of lockdown looms on the horizon," another says.
Kallanish maintained its SAE 1008 6.5mm diameter wire rod assessment at $665-670/t cfr Manila on Thursday.
The rebar market in Singapore is quiet after several orders in early March. The order for a 50,000t Turkish theoretical-weight rebar cargo at $685/t cfr during the first week in March was sold to two stockists. Turkish rebar is now offered at $680/t cfr. Indian rebar is offered at $685/t cfr, up from a trader's sale at $670/t cfr Singapore two weeks ago. A Hong Kong importer reports that offers for actual-weight rebar including Turkish material are prevailing at $685/t cfr Hong Kong.
Kallanish raised its weekly BS4449 500B 10-40mm diameter rebar price assessment to $670-675/t cfr Singapore theoretical weight, up $10 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
