During the week ending October 20, rebar and wire rod prices in China have followed an overall upward trend, while transaction activity for both rebar and wire rod in China has improved compared to the previous week and is now at decent levels. On October 20, rebar futures contract (1501) offers closed at RMB 2,669/mt ($436/mt) at Shanghai Futures Exchange, up $1/mt compared to last week. Average domestic rebar and wire rod prices in China's main markets can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
Due to severe pollution in northern China, especially around Beijing, steelmakers in Hebei Province have been required to cut back on their production and this has helped push up rebar and wire rod prices in northern China. At the same time, demand from downstream users in southern and eastern China has shown some improvement, providing a certain amount of support for rebar and wire rod prices in these regions. In addition, restrictions on real estate purchases have been relaxed recently, also providing a boost for domestic rebar and wire rod prices. Furthermore, some construction projects will seek to catch up on their schedules by the end of the year, which will boost demand for rebar and wire rod. Finally, some steelmakers have also increased their ex-works prices for rebar and wire rod, which will exert a positive impact on prices of these products. It is expected that rebar and wire rod prices in the Chinese domestic market will continue their uptrend in the coming week, though with smaller increase margins anticipated.