China has remained the major import billet market for most major suppliers in the world as demand from other regions has been slack due to the spread of the coronavirus. The latest deal prices have decreased slightly and speculations have started to raise about further cuts.
A contract for ex-Russia billet has been closed at $375/mt CFR this week after a deal for ex-India material at $380-385/mt CFR a bit earlier. There has been information spread in the market about a fresh sale from the CIS at the range of $360-365/mt CFR, but it has been denied by most major traders and suppliers. “The market is crazy. If the price falls fast, customers will start to destroy contracts,” a Chinese traders said, adding that he has not been aware of any offers at $360-365/mt CFR. Some trading sources said that it will be reasonable for Chinese importers to take a pause until next week.
After a sharp drop on Monday, rebar futures at Shanghai Future Exchange have recovered. Today, March 25, the contract price level has increased by RMB 50/mt ($7/mt) to RMB 3,463/mt ($488/mt), which is RMB 63/mt ($9/mt) above Monday’s level. Average spot rebar prices have increased by RMB 17/mt ($2.4/mt) today to RMB 3,597/mt ($507/mt) ex-warehouse.