Posted on 08 Jul 2022
The rebar import markets in Singapore and Hong Kong continue to be lacklustre, Kallanish notes. Recent regional trades for Malaysian rebar reflect its price competitiveness.
Bookings of Malaysian theoretical-weight rebar for September shipment concluded at $647-650/tonne cfr Singapore last week, Singapore trading sources report. An international trader is heard to have ordered two cargoes for two Singapore customers at $647/t cfr. It did so to liquidate a position it took late last or early this year, local sources say. A third back-to-back cargo was taken up by a Chinese trader on behalf of a local buyer at $650/t cfr Singapore.
A Chinese trader is believed to have closed deals of actual-weight rebar from the same Malaysian mill at $670/t cfr Hong Kong last week, Hong Kong trading sources say.
The Singapore and Hong Kong markets are getting full with the arrival of rebar cargoes, market participants say. Traders are shipping cargoes earlier for their forward contracts. “For example, these contacts specify delivery before October or even March 2023, but delivery is taking place now,” a Singapore trader notes. “It is very quiet now”, although construction activities are ongoing, he adds. “Spot orders will slow down, and there will be a storage problem.”
Another Singapore trader says these arrivals “complicate matters further during the current slowdown where demand is already tough.” A Hong Kong trader says the situation in Hong Kong is similar to that of Singapore. “The Hong Kong market is full too for July and August. I think we cannot buy short term yet,” he observes.
Kallanish assessed BS4449 500B 10-40mm diameter rebar at $645/t cfr Singapore theoretical weight, unchanged on-week
Source:Kallanish
