During the week ending July 9, the Chinese rebar and wire rod markets have continued their downward trends amid slow demand from construction projects. On July 9, offers within the scope of the 1210 rebar contract at Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at $635/mt. Average domestic rebar and wire rod prices in China's main markets can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
Despite the recent announcement of an interest rate cut by the Chinese authorities, the pricing trend in the domestic steel market does not appear likely to improve in the short term. At present, steel mills have large inventories of rebar and wire rod, which will restrict the improvement of market prices. In addition, the high temperatures and rainy weather will continue to negatively impact purchasing demand from construction projects. It is expected that Chinese rebar and wire rod prices will maintain their soft trend in the coming week.