Posted on 29 Aug 2025
Chinese wire rod offers have risen again in ASEAN this week, Kallanish notes. Chinese prices have been fluctuating in tandem with volatility on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
Quotes for mesh-grade 6.5mm diameter Chinese Q195 grade wire rod for October shipment have jumped by $15-20/tonne week-on-week to $495-500/t cfr Manila.
The jump is not surprising given the reported ongoing clampdown against and detention of Chinese steel exports that evade VAT payment. Suppliers are also anticipating authorities to more tightly enforce VAT declarations on exports, effective October. Chinese wire rod is widely believed to be one steel product long exported to ASEAN without full payment of VAT.
China’s State Administration of Taxation issued on 7 July an order requiring all export agents to submit information of the real exporter and export values simultaneously with prepayment of VAT on exports, effective 1 October (see Kallanish passim).
“Customers are not ready to digest such a huge spike in price,” a Manila trader says. Bookings took place between end-July and mid-August, with the latest deals reported at around $475/t cfr Manila and $485/t cfr Cebu.
“This significant price hike has stopped whatever market momentum we had in its tracks,” he notes. His "guesstimate" is that orders totalled nearly 50,000 tonnes during that period, adding that Philippines' monthly average booking level is about 60,000t, or about 700,000-800,000t annually.
Kallanish assessed SAE 1008/Q195 6.5mm-8mm diameter wire rod at $480-490/t cfr Manila, up $10/t on-week.
In Thailand, two bookings for low-carbon 6.5mm diameter wire rod have been heard this week. One was for end-October/early-November shipment of Malaysia-origin SAE 1006 grade wire rod at $500/t cif; the other was for Chinese boron-added SAE 1006 for October shipment at $505/t cif.
Indonesia’s Dexin Steel is offering October-shipment 6.5mm diameter SAE1008 wire rod at $490/t fob, unchanged from 13 August.
Source:Kallanish
