The ongoing strength of the Chinese wire rod market and overall bullish sentiments have pushed up prices for imported wire rods in Asia. Although overall demand in the region has not been very high, a few deals have been heard to China and Thailand at higher prices this week.
Ex-Vietnam wire rod has been sold at $465/mt CFR China, up by $8-10/mt from the contract reported in the previous week, sources have said.
Offer prices of ex-Malaysia wire rod have been heard at $460/CFR Philippines, but demand in the country is slow. Ex-India wire rod has been offered at $465-470/mt CFR Thailand and a deal was heard at a lower level of around $460/mt CFR before suppliers increased prices, according to some sources. In general, buyers in Southeast Asia are cautious and are bidding at $450-455/mt CFR.
Offers for ex-China wire rod have been heard at $465-475/mt FOB, moving sideways compared to last week, though still too high for buyers. “Increasing wire rod prices in the local market bolstered ex-China wire rod offer prices,” a trader commented.
During the given week, rebar futures prices in China have moved on an uptrend, and a surging trend has been seen in the iron ore market, resulting in traders’ raising prices for wire rod, even though demand is still not very high due to continuous rainy weather and floods. The rainy season is expected to come to an end, while high temperatures will continue and will likely exert a negative impact on the wire rod market.
As of Thursday, July 16, rebar futures at the Shanghai Future Exchange are standing at 3,703/mt ($532.3/mt), increasing by RMB 23/mt ($3.3/mt) or 0.6 percent since July 9.
$1 = RMB 6.9913