China's wire rod export prices continued to rise this week as orders booked at steel mills increased. However, market participants' expectations turned conservative this week, Kallanish notes.

As more and more deals were concluded last week and early this week, Chinese wire rod exporting producers have almost filled order books. Most mills have already sold out February shipments, and a major steel mill in eastern China has already sold out its March shipments thanks to cost advantages. Alloy-added wire rod export offers in China are now increased to $570-585/t fob China, with a small amount of wire rod booked at $570/t fob China this week.

After previous strong expectations, the fluctuation of prices in China's domestic market has undermined confidence in export markets. Most buyers and traders are beginning to wait and see how the market develops instead of placing orders. Demand in northern China is expected to fall due to the cold weather and the impact of production restrictions, which will also cause more steel to be sent to eastern and southern China. Some traders worry that the price of construction longs will fall in the short-term.

On Thursday, 6.5mm diameter mesh-grade wire rod was assessed at $570/t fob China, up by another $20/t from the previous assessment.