DAILY: China's rebar prices largely stable, trading sluggish

China's rebar prices edged higher in both spot and futures markets on December 23. However, spot trading activity for the long steel product was sluggish on the same day, as downstream buyers switched to hand-to-mouth purchasing after active restocking a day earlier, Mysteel Global learned.

The national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar assessed by Mysteel held steady at Yuan 3,329/tonne ($474/t) including the 13% VAT on Tuesday, nudging up by Yuan 1/t from the day prior. The overall market sentiment was cautious amid fluctuating futures performance. The most-traded rebar futures contract on the Shanghai Futures