DAILY: China's rebar prices lose steam as caution prevails

As the sentiment-driven rally in China’s steel market faded, spot rebar prices slipped on January 9, in tandem with falling rebar futures. Spot trading for construction steel products picked up moderately the same day, mainly as lower offering prices prompted some end-buyers to enter the market for stock replenishment.

The futures price of major ferrous commodities in China posted a broad retreat last Friday, with the most-traded rebar futures contract for next May delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closing the daytime session at Yuan 3,144/tonne ($450.6/t), down by Yuan 35/t or 1.1% from the prior day's settlement price. The cautious sentiment prevailed