Posted on 13 May 2021
The wire rod import market in ASEAN is seeing large hikes in offer prices, Kallanish notes. This comes after the huge price gains achieved in China and in the raw materials markets.
Wire rod suppliers have sharply pushed up wire rod offer prices in the region. A 500-tonne lot of Malaysia-origin 6.5mm wire rod for July shipment was booked last Friday at $805/tonne cif Thailand, up from $780-790/t cif earlier last week. Most Thai users are buying from local mills, so the tonnages booked are small, a Thai trader notes.
Malaysian wire rod offers were last heard at around $850-860/t cif Thailand. Thai trading sources say these high levels are not workable because domestic wire rod prices are much lower. Domestic 5.5mm diameter wire rod prices are now prevailing at about THB 25,000-25,500/t ($802-818/t). “But this price applies only for a limited quantity as Thai mills intend to hike prices gradually,” another Thai trader says. This domestic price translates to $795/t import parity.
Other regional mills have also sharply raised export offer prices. An Indonesian mill is offering 6.5-12mm blast furnace wire rod at $895/t cif on 12 May. A Vietnamese mill, which exported blast furnace wire rod at $750/t fob to China last Friday, has now raised its export offer to $880/t fob. Freight to Vietnam from China is around $30/t, and to the Philippines at $25-30/t.
Another Vietnamese blast furnace mill’s wire rod export price is now tagged at around $915/t cfr Southeast Asia. "Nobody accepts these new prices because they are too high," a Vietnamese trader said on Wednesday.
Offers to Manila are similarly inflated. Malaysian blast furnace wire rod was offered earlier this week at $840/t cfr. Indonesian blast furnace wire rod is offered at $860/t cfr, up from $785-790/t cfr Manila last week. Chinese stock wire rod was heard recently at $890/t cfr Manila. Local traders do not hear of recent deals taking place.
Kallanish raised its SAE 1008 6.5mm diameter wire rod assessment to $795-800/t cfr Manila on Wednesday, up $35 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
