Posted on 21 Feb 2025
ASEAN import markets for rebar and wire rod remain dull, Kallanish notes. Market uncertainty and slow demand are causing buyers to delay purchases.
A leading Malaysian blast furnace mill’s theoretical-weight rebar is heard quoted at around $485/tonne dap (trucked to) Singapore, similar to last week’s $485-490/t. The current offers are for end-March/April deliveries. The dap Singapore basis price is estimated to be $5-10/t higher than on a cfr Singapore basis.
Chinese rebar is heard offered at $495/t cfr, Singapore trading sources say. The market is still slow, a trader notes. But a leading Chinese steel mill is pegging its export offer at $490/t fob China. No recent deals are heard to have taken place.
Offer prices are at around the same level, plus minus $5/t, as rebar demand is stable, another observes. But he thinks regional rebar market participants are adopting a wait-and-see mode until the outcome of China's National People's Congress in known in early March.
Kallanish assessed BS4449 500B 10-40mm diameter rebar at $480/t cfr Singapore theoretical weight, down $2.5/t week-on-week.
In Hong Kong, actual-weight rebar for April shipment from China remains the same as last week, at $495/t cfr. “I don’t see any [buying] interest yet,” an importer says. “Demand is bad.”
For regional wire rod markets, offers for mesh-grade 6.5mm and up diameter Chinese Q195 grade wire rod for March/April shipment are unmoved from last week at $465-470/t cfr Manila. The market remain “relatively quiet” this week, a Manila trader says. “Our local demand remains weak.”
He has heard of Q235 grade wire rod from China recently ordered at $450/t cfr. Q235 grade wire rod, used for making nails and bars, is being sold at a $5-15/t discount to Q195 wire-drawing grades, depending on prevailing market conditions, he adds.
Kallanish assessed SAE 1008 6.5mm-diameter wire rod at $460-465/t cfr Manila, unchanged on-week.
In Thailand, Chinese-origin Q195 6.5mm wire rod for April shipment is offered at $465/t cif. “It’s too high for the Thai market right now. There is a $20 gap as bids are at only $465/t cif,” a Bangkok trader says. Malaysian- and Indonesian-origin wire rod is priced at around $5/t higher.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's Dexin Steel has raised its wire rod prices to $475/t fob for April shipments, up $5/t week-on-week.
Source:Kallanish
