The price level for imported wire rod in Southeast Asia has remained similar to last week and more low-priced offers have started to come from Chinese suppliers. But at the same time ASEAN region-based wire rod producers have been targeting higher levels, especially in distant markets like Europe.
Import prices of ex-Malaysia wire rod by Chinese traders have been heard at $580-590/mt CFR Manila and, moreover, while last week such offers were rare, this week ex-China wire rod has been offered by traders also at around $585/mt CFR Manila. Buyers have been seeking to buy at lower prices and so they are mainly maintaining a waiting position.
Offers for ex-China wire rod have been heard at $570-600/mt FOB, edging down by $10/mt on average compared to September 15. “The downtrend in rebar futures prices in most of the given week has negatively affected rebar prices, while rebar futures prices moved up by 2.98 percent on September 22, which will likely bolster prices in the near future,” an international trader said.
As of Thursday, September 22, rebar futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,765/mt ($539/mt), increasing by RMB 43/mt ($6.2/mt) or up 1.2 percent since September 15, while rising by 2.98 percent compared to the previous trading day (September 21).
ASEAN mills’ offers have been reported at $620/mt FOB and above. For instance, the CFR prices for ex-Vietnam wire rod in Europe have been heard at $675-715/mt depending on the country and the cargo size. Last week, offers to Europe were at $660-680/mt CFR mainly.
$1 = RMB 6.9798