Low-priced deals for ex-China non-VAT wire rod have been reported as done in SE Asia. In addition, Malaysian exporters have also managed to grab some sales with price discounts. In addition, Indonesian mill has cut its official offers to European customers. All these have been signaling that despite the recent rises in futures in China and rather positive outlook, at the moment fundamentals in the Asian wire rod market have remained bearish.
A few deals have been reported at $450/mt CFR and slightly below in Vietnam, while in the Philippines at least two small volume sales have been done at $455-458/mt CFR Manila. Also, latest deals for base Q195 wire rod have been at $468-470/mt CFR in Thailand. All these bookings have been done for Chinese origin wire rod with sellers avoiding paying VAT. Market sources said that non-VAT trading has been more active again as “there is very poor demand, and China needs to give low price to keep selling,” a trader said.
Offers for Chinese wire rod from large mills have been at $470-480/mt CFR to SE Asia, market sources said.
Also, there have been sales of ex-Malaysia wire rod to Thailand at $475/mt CFR, but “for sizes which China charges an extra,” a market source added.
Official offer prices for ex-China SAE 1008 wire rod have remained stable at $460-475/mt FOB. But an Indonesian mill has cut its offer by $5/mt over the week to $485/mt FOB for October shipment.