Local Chinese longs prices continue to fall, but at slower pace

As of August 29, average Chinese domestic rebar and wire rod prices have continued to edge down week on week, and since last Friday there have also been declines. But in comparison to the previous week, the pace of the decline has slowed down from over $20/mt in the previous week.

The average rebar price has declined by RMB 90/mt week on week, while the average wire rod price has lost RMB 60/mt. Rebar prices are down RMB 33/mt since Friday.

During the given week, rebar and wire rod prices have continued to decline though the hot weather conditions have already eased, while the slowdown of inventory consumption and increasing production have exerted a negative impact on prices. Currently, steelmakers’ profitability has not seen any great improvement yet. Since construction activities are expected to recover, demand for rebar and wire rod will likely to improve. It is thought that rebar and wire rod prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely edge up in the coming week.

On August 29, rebar futures contract (rb2210) offers closed at RMB 3,965/mt ($577/mt) at Shanghai Futures Exchange, down RMB 45/mt ($6.6/mt) or 1.1 percent compared to August 22.

Average domestic rebar and wire rod prices in China's main markets are presented in the tables below.  

Rebar prices in local markets

All prices include 13 percent VAT and all prices are ex-warehouse.

 Wire rod prices in local markets

All prices include 13 percent VAT and all prices are ex-warehouse.

$1 = RMB 6.8698