Average offer prices for ex-China wire rod have moved sideways over the past week and the overall mood in Asia has been stable, market sources said, even though some low-priced offers have emerged in Asia.
Offers for ex-China wire rod have been heard at $465-475/mt FOB, moving sideways compared to January 15. The tradable prices have been heard at $460-470/mt FOB.
During the given week, wire rod prices in the Chinese domestic market have fluctuated within a limited range amid slight changes in rebar futures prices. A wave of extremely cold weather has hit China, exerting a negative impact on the demand for wire rod. However, construction sites and some processing centers might build up stocks for replenishment ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday (February 14-23), which may bolster wire rod prices to a certain degree. It is expected that wire rod prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week also.
Wire rod offer prices from the Indonesian mill have been heard at $485/mt FOB, edging down by $5/mt from late last week mainly due to the softening of futures prices in China early this week.
In Southeast Asia, mainstream offer prices of SAE1008 6.5 mm wire rod have been heard at $485-495/mt CFR, stable compared to last week. But there have been reports that some traders have started to offer cheap wire rod again, with market sources suspecting this is non-VAT material, for which offers have been absent since mid-December. In particular, some Vietnamese customers have received offers for SAE1008 wire rod at $467/mt CFR, but for prompt shipment. “I still don’t see non-VAT offers being as they were before. Maybe someone just has a distressed cargo,” an Asian trader said.
As of January 22, rebar futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,124/mt ($446/mt), decreasing by RMB 36/mt ($5.1/mt) or 1.1 percent since January 15, while up 0.35 percent compared to the previous trading day, January 21.
$1 = RMB 7.0019
