Posted on 24 Oct 2024
China's rebar prices remained on a downward trend for the sixth consecutive working day as of October 22, mainly due to weakened market sentiment and steel mills' rising supply that weighed on steel market fundamentals.
Mysteel assessed China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar at Yuan 3,669/tonne ($514.9/t) including 13% VAT on Tuesday, marking a further drop of Yuan 37/t from Monday.
In the derivatives market, futures prices for key ferrous commodities in China also softened. For example, the most actively traded January rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dipped by 0.15% from Monday's settlement price, closing Tuesday's daytime trading session at Yuan 3,349/t.
On the demand side, downstream users showed tepid interest in stocking long steel products amid downbeat sentiment. To facilitate sales, five steelmakers chose to cut their ex-works prices for construction steel by Yuan 30-100/t on Tuesday, Mysteel's survey indicated.
However, most buyers remained cautious about steel restocking despite the lower prices. Mysteel's other survey across 237 trading houses in China showed the daily spot trading volume for construction steel, including rebar, wire rod, and bar-in-coil, thinned by 3.5% from the previous day to 118,215 tonnes on Tuesday.
As supply increased quickly, steel stocks accumulated at retailers, and traders rushed to offload inventory. A market insider warned that the rising stockpiles would likely exert further downward pressure on rebar prices in the near term.
Meanwhile, the Q235 150mm square billet price in North China's Tangshan, a key sentiment indicator for China's steel market, retreated by Yuan 20/t from Monday to sit at Yuan 3,080/t EXW including VAT on Tuesday.
Source:Mysteel Global
