Posted on 14 Apr 2023
The rebar markets are weakening in Southeast Asia amid weak demand and negative sentiment, Kallanish notes. Import offers are falling in Singapore and Hong Kong. This week, Vietnamese mills lowered their domestic prices of longs products.
A Malaysian mill’s theoretical-weight rebar is now $635/tonne delivered by truck to Singapore, down $10/t on-week. This is equivalent to $625/t cfr Singapore. Middle Eastern theoretical-weight rebar is offered at around $640/t cfr. “The Chinese futures are dropping so rebar prices are likely to slide,” a Singapore importer says. Kallanish assessed BS4449 500B 10-40mm diameter rebar at $620-625/t cfr Singapore theoretical weight, $12.5 lower on-week.
Market sources report hearing position cargoes in the market. A trader's parcel of open-origin theoretical-weight rebar is heard on offer at $625/t cfr Singapore. In Hong Kong, a trader had offered less than 5,000t of actual weight rebar at $635/t cfr Hong Kong on Monday, a local importer reports. He thinks that it was Malaysian-origin rebar but is unclear if the offer is still available. Two weeks ago, theoretical-weight rebar from a blast furnace Vietnamese mill was booked at $632/t cfr Singapore and around $10/t more to Hong Kong.
That Vietnamese mill has lowered its domestic prices of longs this week, Vietnamese sources say. The leading mill cut its rebar and wire rod prices by VND 150,000/t ($7/t) and VND 300,000/t in northern Vietnam. In southern Vietnam, the mill’s rebar and wire rod prices were lowered by VND 200,000/t and VND 300,000/t.
The Vietnamese market is seeing very low demand, a mill manager in southern Vietnam says. He estimates that 90% of the Vietnamese mills will similarly lower their longs prices. “There are hardly any buyers,” a trader in Hanoi says on Thursday. The market is suffering from low business confidence and high bank lending rates, he says.
Source:Kallanish
