Posted on 09 Apr 2021
Regional wire rod importers in Southeast Asia have acceded to higher prices, Kallanish notes. Suppliers have been hiking offers amid rising billet prices and rumours of an impending reduction in Chinese export rebates for steel.
Regional blast furnace producers have raised offers for low-carbon 6.5mm diameter wire rod by $35-40/tonne from last week to $725-730/t cfr Southeast Asia.
A Manila trader heard several thousand tonnes of Indonesian 6.5mm SAE 1008 wire rod ordered at around $715/t cfr earlier in the week. The mill is offering material at $730/t cfr Manila, he adds. Higher-priced billet in the region has contributed to the spike in wire rod prices, he notes, “plus the Chinese tax rebate sword hanging over everyone’s head”. The Indonesian mill has also raised its billet export prices to China to $670/t cfr, after securing deals at $660/t cfr.
A regional trader has heard 6.5mm diameter wire rod from an Indian mill offered at $715/t cfr Singapore but the Indian fob price is higher at $710/t fob. The Indian mill was targeting on 6 April to export mostly 6.5mm diameter material, probably for May shipment at $695-700 fob Chennai, another regional trader notes.
In Thailand, a Chinese trader is heard to have sold 5.5mm diameter SAE 1008 grade wire rod from the same Indian mill at $715/t cif Bangkok on 7 April. A Thai trader acknowledges that it is low-priced. “The cargo is for April/May shipment, so I think that is from the trader’s on-hand position,” he says. The offer has since gone up to $725/t cif on 8 April, another Thai trader says.
Another Thai trader was surprised at the low price because he received an offer for 1,000 tonnes from the same Indian mill at $740/t cif Thailand, which has not attracted any takers. He has heard Malaysian-origin 6.5mm wire rod offered at $720/t cif Thailand this week.
Kallanish raised its SAE 1008 6.5mm diameter wire rod assessment to $710-720/t cfr Manila on Thursday, up $40 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
