According to sources, three lots of rebar from the Middle East have been sold to Hong Kong and Singapore over the past week, with the price increase reaching $30-35/mt compared to previous bookings. Tight supply and sharply increasing rebar offers from the major exporters, supported by costlier scrap, have pushed Asian buyers to purchase.
Two deals for ex-Qatar rebar have been done to Hong Kong at $540/mt CFR actual weight, for February shipment, up $35/mt from deals from Qatar and Turkey reported last week, SteelOrbis has learned. Most sources said that the uptrend in the scrap segment contributed to the rise. Offers for Turkish rebar have been above $545/mt CFR Hong Kong.
Moreover, a large lot of rebar from Oman has been sold to Singapore. The final price has not been disclosed by the time of publication, but it has been assessed at $520-530/mt CFR theoretical weight. The previous booking to Singapore was at $495/mt CFR, so prices surged by $30/mt on average in the new transaction.
Ex-China rebar offer prices have been heard at $530-560/mt FOB for late February shipment, moving sideways on average compared to November 20, while it has been hard to close deals.
In the local Chinese market, rainy and snowy weather has exerted a negative impact on construction activities, which has weakened the demand for rebar and dragged down prices. Meanwhile, rebar from northern China, where activities are being halted due to cold weather, has been circulated into southern China, which may negatively affect prices.
Average rebar spot prices in China have lost RMB 80/mt ($12/mt) week on week to RMB 4,127/mt ($628/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of November 27, rebar futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,924/mt ($597/mt), decreasing by RMB 53/mt ($8/mt) or 1.3 percent since November 20.
$1 = RMB 6.5755