Rebar market sentiment weakens in Singapore, Hong Kong

Market sentiment for rebar in Singapore and Hong Kong weakened this week in tandem with the falling steel futures in China.

Market optimism held by suppliers last week that prices could lift on more concrete expansionary measures from Beijing has faded and they have since reduced offer prices. 

A recent Vietnamese mill’s sale of 30,000t of theoretical-weight February-shipment rebar to Singapore at $472/tonne reflects the need for sellers to trade below asking prices to close deals during the current market's sluggishness (see Kallanish passim).

The mill’s official price for actual-weight rebar was $525/t fob (around $505/t fob theoretical-weight), with freight around $20/t to Singapore.

A leading Malaysian blast furnace mill’s theoretical-weight rebar is heard around $500/t trucked to Singapore compared to $500-505/t dap last week. The dap Singapore basis price is estimated to be $5-10/t higher than on a cfr Singapore basis.

A trader is offering at least 5,000t of theoretical-weight rebar for shipment by end-February at $503/t cfr Singapore which other traders deemed as high in the current market. Offers are around $495/t or lower, a Chinese trader says. Last week, some Chinese rebar offers soared to as high as $520/t cfr Singapore. The market mood is "poor" because buyers are bearish and think that prices will fall, a Singapore trader says.

In Hong Kong, offers for actual-weight open-origin rebar are at $500-505/t cfr, down from $510-515/t cfr last week, the second consecutive $10/t weekly drop for this month. These open-origin offers are for Chinese or Malaysian origin rebar. Meanwhile, a large number of forward shipment rebar cargoes are arriving, a Hong Kong buyer notes.

Kallanish assessed BS4449 500B 10-40mm diameter rebar at $485-490/t cfr Singapore theoretical weight, widening upwards at the top end of the range.