During the given week, ex-China rebar offer prices have moved down amid the downtrend in the local market. Buyers in Hong Kong have not been willing to import rebar as they have already sufficient stocks, while demand in Singapore has also been critically weak as construction activity there has been slow.
The tradable value for ex-India rebar and ex-Turkey rebar in Hong Kong is still at $478-480/mt CFR actual weight, which can be acceptable for some suppliers, but overall reduced consumption and high stocks are hampering negotiations. The workable price level in Singapore has been stable at $465-470/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis.
Ex-China rebar offer prices have been heard at $480-490/mt FOB, moving down by $5/mt week on week. Since the performance in the Chinese rebar market has not been as good as market players expected for September, some traders think rebar prices in the local Chinese market will see further decreases ahead of the long holiday, and they do not think the performance in October will improve significantly. As a result, ex-China rebar prices have moved closer to competitive levels for buyers in Southeast Asia.
Average rebar spot prices in China have lost RMB 30/mt ($4.4/mt) week on week to RMB 3,780/mt ($555/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of September 25, rebar futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,522/mt ($533/mt), decreasing by RMB 81mt ($12/mt) or 2.2 percent since September 18.
$1 = RMB 6.8121