Prices for ex-China wire rod have remained stable over the past week as futures and spot prices in China have been fluctuating in a narrow range, though a negative bias has remained. At the same time, sellers of wire rods from the ASEAN region have either kept offers stable or lowered them to attract buyers.
Offers for ex-China wire rod from second-tier mills have been heard at $550-580/mt FOB, moving sideways on average. Wire rod prices in the Chinese domestic market have indicated a downtrend in the given week amid slack demand and the prevailing wait-and-see stance as regards the future prospects for the wire rod market. However, inventories of wire rod have not seen significant rises yet, which bolstered prices to a certain degree. “I am still negative and think that wire rod prices in China may edge down more until February,” a trader said.
At the same time, official offer prices of ex-Indonesia and ex-Malaysia wire rod have been heard at $555/mt FOB on average, showing very little change from last week, while no deals have been heard yet.
However, some demand has been seen from Southeast Asian wire rod importers, who managed to get discounts from traders. A few deals have been reported to the Philippines at $550/mt CFR for Q235 wire rod, down from the lowest possible offers at $565-570/mt CFR in the first half of January. Buyers in Southeast Asia have made new inquiries at $540-550/mt CFR Manila this week, while exporters have been unwilling to accept such prices, at least for now.
As of Thursday, January 18, rebar futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,913/mt ($550/mt), decreasing by RMB 13/mt ($1.8/mt) or down 0.33 percent since January 11, while rising by 0.49 percent compared to the previous trading day (January 17).
$1 = RMB 7.1174