China's rebar price strengthens to 3-month high

On February 9, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment strengthened for the third working day, up by another Yuan 24/tonne ($3.8/t) on day to Yuan 4,989/t ($784/t) including the 13% VAT, or reaching a new high since last November.

On the same day, the Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price in North China's Hebei province under Mysteel's survey remained unchanged at Yuan 4,670/t ($734/t) EXW including the VAT. The steelmakers in Tangshan have been observing stringent production curbs during the Winter Olympic Games being held in and around Beijing over February 4-20, Mysteel Global noted.

In contrast to the strengthening spot rebar price, the most-traded May rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost steam on February 9, down by Yuan 62/t ($10/t) or 1.26% on day from the settlement price of February 8 to close the daytime trading session at Yuan 4,843/t ($761/t).

Also on Wednesday when China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) posted a statement on its WeChat platform, noting that NDRC and the State Administration for Market Regulation would study and take effective measures to ensure stability of China's iron ore market, as well as strengthening market supervision and vowing to strictly crack down on any "irregular and illegal" operations, Mysteel SEADEX 62% Australian Fines dropped to $146.75/dmt CFR Qingdao, down $2.05/dmt on day.

Written by Tina Xue, xueyanming@mysteel.com

This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.