Average offer prices for ex-China wire rod from mills and a number of traders have moved sideways over the past week as, even though demand has remained limited, supply has also been lower. Nevertheless, the tradable levels, based on some aggressive offers from traders mainly in short positions, have continued to slip, proving that the the market is still bearish.
Offers for ex-China wire rod from mills in Tangshan have mainly been heard at $540-560/mt FOB, remaining stable compared to April 27. “During the given week, production of wire rod in the Chinese domestic market has edged down, though demand has also remained slack. Following the Labor Day holiday, some downstream users have started to replenish stocks, while steelmakers’ profitability has continued to be weak. As a result, there is limited room for steelmakers to resume higher production,” an international trader said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported wire rod in Southeast Asia has slipped further from $550/mt CFR to $540-550/mt CFR this week. While some offer prices of ex-China wire rod from traders have been heard at $550-560/mt CFR Manila, a few new offers also for ex-China Q235 wire rod have been reported at $540/mt CFR to the Philippines. Almost no deals have been heard in the market, with most buyers assessing how much further prices can decline.
Offers for ex-China wire rod to Turkey have slipped to $580-590/mt CFR, but buyers are not interested, checking prices for other origins like Malaysia, which is not a subject to import duty.
Ex-ASEAN offers for wire rod to distant markets have been herd at $580/mt FOB, down from last week’s indicative levels of $590-600/mt FOB.
As of Thursday, May 4, rebar futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,615/mt ($523.5/mt), decreasing by RMB 76/mt ($11/mt) or down 2.1 percent since April 27, while declining by 1.85 percent compared to the previous trading day (April 28).
$1 = RMB 6.9054