During the past week, ex-China and ex-ASEAN rebar offer prices have moved sideways compared to the previous week as trading has slowed down ahead of the holiday. The outlook for the post-holiday period is mixed as some players still expect a traditional rebound, while other market sources believe that it would only be short-lived and that the fundamentals will remain weak until mid-March.
Ex-China rebar offer prices have been heard at $550-570/mt FOB, for April shipment, moving sideways on average compared to February 2.
During the given week, the domestic rebar market in China has been extremely quiet as the Chinese New Year holiday has been approaching. Inventory of rebar has risen somewhat, while there has been rare demand from downstream users. It is expected that rebar prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely see a rebounding trend after the long holiday.
In Singapore, market players have mostly held a wait-and-see stance towards the prospects for the market following the Chinese New Year holiday. Offer prices of ex-Malaysia rebar have been heard at $575/mt DAP, translating to $565-570/mt CFR, while ex-Middle East rebar has been available at $570-580/mt CFR Singapore, theoretical weight. Market sources doubt that anything above $560/mt CFR can work even after the holiday until the fundamentals improve in China.
In the Hong Kong market, offer prices of rebar from traders have been heard at $575/mt CFR, actual weight, moving sideways week on week.
Average rebar spot prices in China have remained stable compared to February 2, standing at RMB 3,990/mt ($562/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of Thursday, February 8, rebar futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,854/mt ($543/mt), decreasing by RMB 14/mt ($2/mt) or 0.36 percent since February 1, while increasing by 0.71 percent compared to the previous trading day (February 7).
$1 = RMB 7.1036