Competition between rebar suppliers from the Middle East and regional exporters in the Asian market has tightened. Malaysia has managed to sell rebar to Hong Kong, while Turkey has been active in Singapore. As a result, the downtrend has persisted in the Asia rebar market.
During the week ended September 25, Malaysia-origin rebar has been traded at $440-445/mt CFR Hong Kong, on actual weight basis for November shipment. This price is slightly lower than the contract price for ex-Qatar rebar signed at $445-450/mt CFR Hong Kong earlier this month. At the same time, official prices for ex-Turkey rebar are still at $445-450/mt CFR Hong Kong, though prices are expected to go down further in the near future, following the recent drop in scrap prices. Due to high stocks, customers’ bids have fallen to about $420/mt CFR Hong Kong at the moment.
There have been also rumors in the market that one of Turkish mills has sold rebar to Singapore at $430/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis or even below, which corresponds to below $400/mt FOB on actual weight basis or at least $10/mt below official offers.
SteelOrbis has been informed that ex-China HRB400 grade 20 mm rebar offers have been stable at $455-470/mt FOB, which has completely failed to attract any interest.
Sentiments have improved in the local rebar market in China this week amid increased production restriction measures. Rebar futures at the Shanghai Future Exchange have increased by RMB 110/mt ($15.6/mt) since Friday, reaching RMB 3,498/mt ($494.6/mt) on Wednesday, September 25. Average spot rebar prices in China have added RMB 7/mt ($1.0/mt) from September 18 to September 25, reaching RMB 3,847/mt ($543/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
There are only a few days left ahead of the National Day holiday (October 1-7). Some market players are cautious about building up stocks as they are worried about the market trend after the long holiday as demand in the local market will slacken when the weather gets colder. Meanwhile, iron ore prices have declined recently. Some traders in rebar export market may lower prices as they want to conclude deals to ease pressure towards the end of the month.
