During the week ending February 2, in the Chinese domestic market rebar and wire rod prices have mostly continued their declining trend, though rebar prices in northern China have seen a slight recovery, while transaction activity for both rebar and wire rod in the local Chinese market has been at low levels. On February 2, rebar futures contract (1505) offers closed at RMB 2,492/mt ($400/mt) at Shanghai Futures Exchange, up $7/mt week on week. Average domestic rebar and wire rod prices in China's main markets can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
During the given week, traders in northern China have slightly raised their rebar prices, though transactions in the region have been on the scarce side. Rebar and wire rod prices in other regions have declined by small margins, while the decreases have been larger in southern China. With only two weeks left before the Spring Festival holiday (February 18-24), trading activity in northern China has continued to slacken, while flows of supplies from the northern region southward have been exerting strong pressure on the markets in southern and eastern China. It is thought that rebar and wire rod prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely continue to decline in the coming week as construction sites will gradually halt production during the two weeks before the Spring Festival.