DAILY: China's rebar prices, sales retreat further

China's rebar market extended weakness on January 28, with both spot and futures rebar prices ending slightly lower. Meanwhile, spot trading of construction steel including rebar also sank further to hit a fresh low, as construction activity across the country slowed with the approaching Lunar New Year holidays, Mysteel's survey found.

The downtrend continued in rebar futures on Wednesday, with the most-traded rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for May delivery losing another 0.32% to close at Yuan 3,123/tonne ($449/t) when the daytime trading ended, the bourse's data show. In the spot market, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar dipped by