During the week ending December 16, average prices of Chinese domestic rebar and wire rod have continued their downtrend, though the pace of the price decline has visibly slowed down. Transaction activity in the overall domestic rebar and wire rod market is still weak.
During a given week, the decreasing pace of rebar and wire rod prices has slowed down amid less pessimistic sentiment. In the first week of December, prices posted a $26-32/mt drop, while last week average rebar prices lost $11.2/mt, while wire rod prices have declined by $8.2/mt over the past week. Meanwhile, steelmakers’ rebar and wire rod outputs have decreased slightly. Approaching the end of the year, some steelmakers will implement maintenance works and others will halt production due to environmental measures, which will prevent sharp rises in output in the near future. However, cautious sentiment still prevails among market players. It is thought that rebar and wire rod prices will likely fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
Rebar futures prices in China have declined over the past week. On December 16, rebar futures contract (2001) offers closed at RMB 3,480/mt ($520.9/mt) at Shanghai Futures Exchange, down by 0.88 percent since December 9.
Average domestic rebar and wire rod prices in China's main markets are presented in the tables below.
Rebar prices in local markets
Product name |
Specification (mm) |
Category |
City |
Steel plant/place of origin |
Price (RMB/mt) |
Price |
Weekly change |
Weekly change |
25 |
HRB400 |
Beijing |
Hebei Steel |
3,580 |
512.0 |
-120 |
-13.5 |
|
Guangzhou |
Shaoguan Steel |
4,410 |
630.7 |
-140 |
-15.5 |
|||
Shanghai |
Shente |
3,900 |
557.8 |
-60 |
-4.6 |
|||
Average price |
- |
3,963.3 |
566.8 |
-107 |
-11.2 |
All prices include 13 percent VAT and all prices are ex-warehouse.
Wire rod prices in local markets
Product name |
Specification (mm) |
Category |
City |
Steel plant/place of origin |
Price (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change |
6.5 |
HPB300 |
Beijing |
Hebei Steel |
4,340 |
620.7 |
-40 |
-1.4 |
|
Guangzhou |
Shaoguan Steel |
4,170 |
596.4 |
-110 |
-11.5 |
|||
Shanghai |
Shente Steel |
4,010 |
573.5 |
-110 |
-11.6 |
|||
Average price |
- |
4,173.3 |
596.9 |
-87 |
-8.2 |
|||
8 |
HPB300 |
Beijing |
Hebei Steel |
4,190 |
599.3 |
-40 |
-1.5 |
|
Guangzhou |
Shaoguan Steel |
4,110 |
587.8 |
-110 |
-11.5 |
|||
Shanghai |
Shente Steel |
4,010 |
573.5 |
-110 |
-11.6 |
|||
Average price |
- |
4,103.3 |
586.9 |
-87 |
-8.2 |
All prices include 13 percent VAT and all prices are ex-warehouse.
$1 = RMB 6.992