Posted on 18 Jul 2025
Price volatility in the ASEAN wire rod import markets continues in line with the fluctuation seen on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), Kallanish notes.
Several deals took place when the SHFE reached recent lows on Wednesday, but a rebound on Thursday has caused another pause in trading activity.
Small-tonnage orders for mesh-grade 6.5mm diameter Chinese Q195 grade wire rod for August shipment took place on 15 July at around $450/tonne cfr. The wire rod will come from certain Chinese mills and will be confirmed as trader’s option.
Trading sources say that there were five such orders of 500-2,000t each.
“The offers are higher today because the Chinese paper market is up sharply today,” a Manila trader said on Thursday. A booking for Chinese wire rod took place at $458/t cfr Manila on Tuesday this week.
Kallanish assessed SAE 1008/Q195 6.5mm-8mm diameter wire rod at $450-455/t cfr Manila, down $2.5/t on week.
In Vietnam, end-July-shipment cargoes for 6.5/8mm Q195/SAE1008 wire rod from several Chinese mills were offered on Wednesday at $448-452/t cfr Vietnam depending on mill.
One Chinese mill offer at $448/t cfr was down from $450/t last week.
"Demand is weak and inventories are high," a Vietnamese mill manager says. These lower-priced quotes in ASEAN are believed to be export shipments evading full payment of Chinese VAT.
Indonesia’s Dexin Steel lowered its export prices for October-shipment 6.5mm diameter wire rod by $5/t to $485/t fob effective 15 July
Meanwhile, the rebar import market in Singapore appears stable despite the price movements on the SHFE. Theoretical-weight rebar from Malaysia was heard booked at around $460/t dap (trucked to) Singapore last week. The dap basis price is estimated to be $5-10/t higher than on a cfr Singapore basis.
These are for small-tonnage bookings of 1,000-2,000t per order, Singapore-based trading sources say. A Singapore trader estimates that 5,000-10,000t were booked in total last week.
Chinese rebar is currently outpriced from the Singapore market with an offer heard at $475/t cfr.
“The Chinese domestic market seems to have the support by the recent lift on the SHFE. Though most players say that this is not sustainable, Chinese suppliers may not be keen to sell here for the time being,” another Singapore trader says.
Kallanish assessed BS4449 500B 10-40mm diameter rebar at $450/t cfr Singapore, unchanged on-week.
Source:Kallanish
