Rebar and wire rod exporters to ASEAN continued to hike offers earlier this week, Kallanish notes. The market remained one-sided, with suppliers vying for higher prices on the back of costlier raw materials and the firm Chinese domestic steel market, whereas buyers remained passive.

“Prices moved up too sharply for buyers to follow,” a regional trader in Singapore says.

A Malaysian mill’s offer for theoretical-weight rebar is at around $555/tonne delivered by truck (dap), which would be equivalent to $550/t cfr Singapore. A week ago, its offers were at $550-555/t dap. A Vietnamese mill’s offer for theoretical-weight rebar is at $560/t cfr, with no extras charged for variable lengths.

While demand is steady in Singapore as construction projects are ongoing, buyers are hesitating and need time to accept the price hike. “Fundamentally, demand is weak in China and the price of rebar usually falls in the winter season,” a Singapore trader notes. Malaysian rebar had previously transacted at $535/t dap Singapore a month ago.

Kallanish assessed BS4449 500B 10-40mm diameter rebar at $545/t cfr Singapore theoretical weight, up $2.5 on-week.

Offers in the regional market for imported wire rod have also risen. Offers for Chinese mesh-grade 6.5mm diameter wire rod are up by $15-20/t from last week to around $560/t cfr Manila. These are lower-priced than quotes from the larger Chinese mills because they are believed to be shipped without full payment of VAT. The large Chinese mills and the regional ASEAN mills are offering directly to the market at $570/t fob and $550/t fob, respectively, a regional trader reports.

Traders say they do not hear of deals taking place. A Manila trader reports receiving a $540/t cfr Manila bid on Wednesday which he describes as “clearly way off the mark”. Kallanish assessed SAE 1008 6.5mm-diameter wire rod at $540-545/t cfr Manila, up $10 on-week.

In Thailand, blast furnace wire rod from Malaysian and Indonesia is offered by traders at $555/t cif and $565/t cif, respectively, while material from Chinese mills is quoted at $570/t cif Thailand.