The leading Indonesian mill managed to sell 50,000 mt of wire rod late last week. The price for this material for December shipment was around $460/mt FOB and new offers for January are voiced at $465/mt FOB. “They didn’t hike the price more as it is obvious they have no need to export, and who will buy for January now?” an Asian trader said.
Though the sale has been confirmed, there has been no information about the trade destination for this material as it has been taken in a long position, according to a few sources. There is a view in the market that the Indonesian wire rod will go to some distant markets, especially after active offering of Chinese non-VAT wire rod has been reported in Southeast Asia. Most offers for non-VAT wire rod have been at $470-475/mt CFR, but some aggressive sales to Vietnam have already been done at $450/mt CFR in Vietnam, though this level is assessed as being below the general market level. “If this deal [from Indonesia] is fresh, I don’t think it is for Europe, as there are very bad numbers rumoured for CBAM [benchmarks],” a trader said.
The Indonesian mill has closed its December order books for billet and slabs as well, which are offered for January at $435/mt FOB and $450/mt FOB, respectively.
In the billet segment, after sales from Indonesia reported at $430-431/mt FOB a week ago, trading has been focused on Chinese material. In particular, while offers are at $425-430/mt FOB for Chinese billets for end of November-December shipment, the workable level has already been assessed at around $422/mt FOB, according to market sources.
