Average ex-China wire rod offer prices have seen further decreases over the past week due to falling futures prices and poor local demand and even production cuts have failed to stop the downtrend. Moreover, ASEAN mills have also been aggressive with Indonesian wire rod prices even being a bit lower than Chinese prices in the latest deals.
Offers for ex-China wire rod from second-tier mills have been heard at $485/mt FOB, edging down by $7.5/mt on average compared to last week, while reference deal prices have been heard at $480/mt FOB, down by $5/mt week on week.
During the given week, wire rod prices in the Chinese domestic market have seen an overall downtrend amid the bearish sentiments among market players and with rebar futures prices moving down sharply, negatively affecting wire rod prices. Recent sell-offs of material by traders depressed market sentiments, and, even though overall supply in the market is lower, it is expected that wire rod prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely edge down a bit further in the coming period, market sources believe.
Wire rod offer prices from Indonesia’s Dexin have been at around $480/mt FOB, decreasing by $5/mt compared to last week, but today at least one deal was closed at $475/mt FOB to the Asian market, according to sources. Ex-Malaysia wire rod prices have been at $485/mt FOB, declining by $5-10/mt over the past week, and offer prices from Vietnam’s Hoa Phat have been heard at $495/mt FOB, edging down by $5/mt on average.
As a result, the tradable level for imported wire rod in the Southeast Asian market has been lowered to $490-495/mt CFR, from $515/mt CFR last week, as some deals and traders’ offers have already been heard at this level. Buyers from the Philippines have been assessing the workable level at not above $490/mt CFR Manila.
As of August 8, rebar futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,254/mt ($456/mt), decreasing by RMB 101/mt ($3.6/mt) or 3.0 percent since August 1, while down 1.78 percent compared to the previous trading day, August 7.
$1 = RMB 7.146
