Posted on 16 May 2025
Market sentiment for imported rebar and wire rod remains weak in ASEAN. However, suppliers are seeking higher prices on improved market optimism after hefty US-China trade tariffs were suspended, Kallanish notes.
Offers for mesh-grade 6.5mm diameter Chinese Q195 grade wire rod for July shipment are around $480-485/tonne cfr Manila, compared to last week’s $480/t cfr. A deal was heard for 2,000t of Q235 grade July-shipment wire rod at around $460/t cfr Manila on Wednesday.
This would translate to around $475-480/t cfr for Q195 grade material, trading sources estimate. Kallanish assessed SAE 1008 6.5mm-diameter wire rod at $475-480/t cfr Manila, up $2.5/t on-week.
In Thailand on Wednesday, another deal was heard for 500t of Malaysian 6.5mm diameter wire rod for end-June shipment closed at $490/t cif Bangkok. Most offers for Chinese origin wire rod are at $490/t cif while bids are at $485/t cif.
Offers in Vietnam for 6.5-12.0mm diameter Chinese SAE 1008 wire rod for shipment by 30 June are seen at $453-479/t cfr Vietnam, depending on mill origin. Chinese 8-10mm diameter Q235 wire rod is offered at $450/t cfr Vietnam. Price gaps for wire rod have often been attributed to whether shippers would pay VAT for steel exports.
Indonesia’s Dexin Steel's export prices for September shipment remains unchanged at $520/t fob.
Meanwhile, rebar markets in Singapore and Hong Kong are similarly seeing higher offers.
In Hong Kong, actual-weight rebar offers for July shipment are prevailing $5-10/t higher from last week at $480/t cfr. A leading Malaysian blast furnace mill is also offering at $480/t cfr.
These offers are too high for some market participants. “They are too expensive to cover domestic rebar prices at [the equivalent of] $465/t,” a Hong Kong buyer says.
A Malaysian mill’s theoretical-weight rebar offer for July delivery is unchanged from last week at around $470/t dap (trucked to) Singapore. This is negotiable and with possible acceptance at $465/t dap compared to $460/t dap last week, trading sources say. The dap basis price is estimated to be $5-10/t higher than on a cfr Singapore basis.
Chinese rebar was quoted at $485/t cfr Singapore on Wednesday, higher than the offers seen at $470-480/t cfr Singapore last week.
Kallanish assessed BS4449 500B 10-40mm diameter rebar at $460/t cfr Singapore, up $2.5/t on-week.
Source:Kallanish
