Posted on 14 Oct 2022
The ASEAN import market for wire rod has softened after the long Chinese holiday, Kallanish notes. Sellers had earlier anticipated that prices will rise after the Chinese holiday. This has not materialised and the market continues to move sluggishly amid lowered offers.
Offers for Chinese-origin 6.5mm diameter wire rod for December shipment are prevailing at $565-570/tonne cfr Manila. Regional blast furnace wire rod from Indonesia and Malaysia is offered at $585-595/t cfr Manila, down from $610-620/t cfr Manila in end-September.
A Manila trader reports hearing a booking at $570/t cfr for 6.5mm diameter wire rod as well as at $580/t cfr for 11/12mm diameter Chinese wire rod. "Unfortunately, the much-anticipated traditional uptick after the long Chinese national holidays didn’t materialise this year," he says on Thursday. "It very quickly ran out of steam after a couple of days," he adds, pointing to the slide in Chinese steel futures. Kallanish assessed SAE 1008 6.5mm diameter wire rod on Thursday at $565-570/t cfr Manila, down $5 on week.
A Thai trader says that on Wednesday he sold 7,000t of Chinese 6.5mm wire rod at $580/t cfr Thailand with a $10/t premium extra for 5.5mm material in the December-shipment cargo. Current buying is more speculative since real demand is weak, he says. He believes that sales will pick-up during a buying season in the first quarter of next year.
A Chinese mill is offering 6.5mm SAE 1008 wire rod for shipment by 10 December at $565/t cfr Ho Chi Minh. Vietnamese buyers have not imported Chinese wire rod for a long time, a Vietnamese trader says. Chinese wire rod is levied a 10% import duty and the Vietnamese market is “very slow,” he says.
Source:Kallanish
