During the past week, prices for imported rebar in the Asian market have declined, following the downtrend in the raw material segment with both scrap and iron ore prices posting visible declines. Lower prices have been fixed in deals for Chinese and Russian rebar to Southeast Asia.
Around 15,000 mt of ex-Russia rebar has been sold to Hong Kong at around $630/mt CFR actual weight. Last week, a contract for ex-Turkey rebar was reported at $650/mt CFR actual weight to Hong Kong. Most offers to Hong Kong are still at higher levels, at closer to $650/mt CFR, but sources said that the recent deal price level is the real market level for now.
Also, ex-China rebar is rumored to have been traded at $625/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis to Singapore in the past week. This is about $5-10/mt below the price assessment in Singapore last week. At the moment, importers in Singapore are only willing to buy at $620/mt CFR theoretical weight, though official offers from Chinese mills and from some other exporters have been at much higher levels.
Ex-China rebar offer prices have been heard at $615-635/mt FOB, for April shipment, moving sideways on average compared to January 22. “The declining trend in scrap prices in the international market negatively affected ex-China rebar prices, while market players have been cautious in cutting their offer prices ahead of the long holiday,” an international trader said.
In the local market in China, rebar futures prices have moved down in the given week amid the increasing inventory levels. Construction activities have almost been suspended in China, exerting a negative impact on the rebar market, though sellers have preferred to keep prices stable amid the quiet activities.
Average rebar spot prices in China have gained RMB 14/mt ($2.2/mt) week on week to RMB 4,357/mt ($673.4/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of January 29, rebar futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,267/mt ($659.5/mt), decreasing by RMB 27/mt ($4.2/mt) or 1.5 percent since January 22.
$1 = RMB 6.4709