Asian rebar, billet prices unchanged; British billet sellers eye Asia

Asian rebar market was stable Wednesday as Hong Kong-based rebar buyers started to look at August/September shipment.

Asian billet prices ended a two-day rally and were unchanged amid flat offers, with sellers for British cargoes eyeing Southeast Asia.

Rebar buyers in no hurry

Hong Kong market was stable with about 120,000 mt rebar to arrive in May, including cargoes from India, Turkey and Taiwan.

Furthermore, at least 80,000 mt material from these regions were booked for June to August shipment since last week to deliver their previous signed forward shipment contracts.

As a result, buyers were in no hurry for new bookings and turned their eyes on August or September shipment.

In Singapore, market remained quiet with stagnant demand as most local construction sites remained closed during the circuit breaker.

S&P Global Platts assessed 16-20 mm diameter BS500 rebar at $401/mt FOB China actual weight, unchanged day on day. Platts assessed 16-32 mm diameter BS4449 Grade 500 rebar at $404/mt CFR Southeast Asia, unchanged day on day.

In the Beijing retail market, spot 18-25 mm diameter HRB400 rebar was assessed at Yuan 3,570/mt ($504/mt) ex-stock actual weight, including 13% value added tax, unchanged on the day.

The most actively traded October 2020 rebar futures contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at Yuan 3,464/mt, unchanged on the day.