Local Chinese longs rebound strongly today amid new PBOC stimuli, offsetting last week's drop

As of October 28, average Chinese domestic longs prices have been almost stable compared to the previous week after price retreat seen in the most part of last week due to still insufficient demand. Meanwhile, today PBoC announced new tool for acceleration of lending, which supported market players moods and boosted expectations.

The average rebar price has decreased by RMB 7/mt ($1/mt) compared to October 21, while the average 6.5 mm HPB 300 wire rod price has seen a rise of RMB 23/mt ($3/mt). Rebar prices have increased by RMB 70/mt ($10/mt) compared to the previous trading day, October 25.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced a new lending tool today, on October 28, which is based on activation of open market outright reserve repo, which will bolster liquidity in the banking system. This tool is aimed to help with the targeted over RMB 2 trillion ($280 billion), that are expected to be issued under the medium-term loans by the end of the year.

Also, recently, demand for rebar and wire rod improved to a certain degree, bolstering the prices. As of October 20, domestic inventories of rebar and wire rod decreased by 6.5 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively, compared to October 10, providing solid support to the prices. Market sentiments improved recently as rebar and wire rod prices have been at relatively low levels and stimulus policies have provided certain support to longs prices. There will be an important meeting to be held in the near future, market players have better expectations as regards to the prospects for the rebar and wire rod markets. However, it will be colder in northern China, which will slacken the demand for rebar and wire rod and weaken the prices accordingly. It is expected that rebar and wire rod prices in the Chinese domestic market will edge up slightly in the coming week.

As of October 28, rebar futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,451/mt ($484/mt), increasing by RMB 93/mt ($13/mt) or 2.8 percent since October 21, while up 2.65 percent compared to the previous trading day, October 25.  

Average domestic rebar and wire rod prices in China's main markets are presented in the tables below.    

Rebar prices in local markets

All prices include 13 percent VAT and all prices are ex-warehouse.

 Wire rod prices in local markets

All prices include 13 percent VAT and all prices are ex-warehouse.

$1 = RMB 7.1307