Posted on 09 Dec 2022
Southeast Asian import markets for rebar and wire rod are seeing a surge in offer prices, Kallanish notes. Buyers are generally shunning these offers because the price jump is too large and sudden. Steel demand is weak in the region because of tight credit, high interest rates and inflationary pressures.
Chinese- and ASEAN-origin 6.5mm low-carbon wire rod offers from traders have gone up to $580-590/tonne cfr Philippines, from $550-555/t last week. Traders are indicating around $580/t cfr Manila, a Philippine trader says. He does not think there are any deals this week. “Prices rose too fast,” he explains.
Offers for same-sized wire rod from Indonesia or Malaysia are prevailing at $585/t cif Thailand and higher. There are no takers, a Bangkok-based trader comments, adding domestic product is currently priced at the equivalent of $604-632/t ex-mill. The lower range in prices is for induction-furnace wire rod and the upper range for EAF wire rod.
Trading sources also note that Russian-origin wire rod is still available, including 5.5mm diameter gauges which are being stored at Thai warehouses. However, their supplier has hiked offers for the material to nearly $600/t cfr, up from $565/t last week.
Direct offers from mills are priced even higher. Chinese mills are quoting $565-575/t fob and an Indonesian blast furnace mill at around $565/t fob, some trading sources observe. Kallanish assessed SAE 1008 6.5mm diameter wire rod on Thursday at $560-570/t cfr Manila, up $15 on-week.
Likewise, exporters for rebar are also asking for higher prices in the region. Malaysian theoretical-weight rebar is being offered at $575-580/t delivered to Singapore, $15-20/t higher than ten days ago. Theoretical-weight rebar from the Middle East and tier-2 Chinese mills is heard offered at $580-590/t cfr. Suppliers of Middle Eastern and Chinese rebar are noticeably less active than before, an importer says.
Rebar importers are not prepared to accept the price hikes as yet. Buyers are still bidding at $550/t cfr Singapore. Kallanish assessed BS4449 500B 10-40mm diameter rebar at $560/t cfr Singapore theoretical weight, up $10 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
