Posted on 12 Jun 2020
Prices have lifted for wire rod imports in Southeast Asia after low-priced Korean wire rod was earlier snapped up in the Philippines, Kallanish notes. The regional rebar market in the region remained depressed because of weak demand.
Wire rod from a leading South Korean mill transacted at $450/tonne cfr Manila earlier this week after sales started last week at $430-435/t cfr. “There may be a couple of thousand tonnes left but it’s pretty much sold out,” a Manila trader says Thursday. Sales from the mill were for mesh-grade and wire-drawing quality wire rod for July/August shipments.
Suppliers are inviting bids for mesh-grade wire rod from Indonesia at $445/t cfr Manila which is initially offered at $450/t cfr. “It would be a hard sell,” says a Manila trader who estimates that the sales volume for the Korean wire rod to the Philippines amounted to around 25,000t. Wire rod from the Indonesian blast furnace mill which started operating some months ago is “generally acceptable for mesh,” a trader says.
Chinese wire rod offers are prevailing at $465/t cfr Manila, and Indian wire rod at $455-460/t cfr.
In Vietnam, wire rod from the same South Korean mill was raised to $460/t cfr on Wednesday, up $20/t from last week. A Vietnamese trader says that there is no limit on the tonnage offered. Domestic wire rod is priced at the equivalent $445-450/t this week, up from $440/t after a leading Vietnamese mill lowered its domestic construction longs prices.
Kallanish raised its SAE 1008 6.5mm diameter mesh-grade wire rod assessment to $440-445/t cfr Manila, up $10 on week.
Meanwhile, weak demand continues to depress the rebar import market. Suppliers have raised offer prices. Indian rebar is offered at $440/t cfr Hong Kong actual-weight basis, up from $427-428/t cfr last week. “The market is stagnant,” an importer says. Turkish rebar is offered at $450/t cfr Hong Kong, actual-weight and at $449/t cfr Singapore, theoretical-weight. But there are no takers for these offers.
In Singapore, work on construction projects is slow to start, trading sources say. With two Turkish rebar shipments are arriving soon, a Singapore trader did not see any buying interest. On Thursday, Kallanish maintained its weekly BS4449 500B 10-40mm diameter rebar price at $420/t cfr Singapore theoretical weight.
Source:Kallanish
