During the week ending March 2, in the Chinese domestic market wire rod prices have indicated a stable trend, though rebar prices have seen slight rises in Beijing and Guangzhou market, while transaction activity for both rebar and wire rod in the local Chinese market has remained slack. On March 2, rebar futures contract (1505) offers closed at RMB 2,472/mt ($394/mt) at Shanghai Futures Exchange, down $10/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.
Most workers on construction sites in China will not come back to work until after the Lantern Festival holiday (March 5), and so transaction activity in the long steel market in China has not returned to normal levels yet, remaining scarce. Currently, steelmakers are slowly resuming normal production levels, contributing to oversupply in the domestic rebar and wire rod market. Moreover, rebar futures prices have softened recently, contributing to bearish sentiment in the spot market. It is expected that in the coming week rebar and wire rod prices in the Chinese domestic market will move on a fluctuating trend, within limited upward or downward movement.