China’s domestic rebar prices flat amid wait-and-see sentiment in commodity market

China’s domestic rebar prices flat amid wait-and-see sentiment in commodity market
Published by:Jessica Zong<>
23 Jun 2025 @ 09:50 UTC

China’s domestic rebar prices remained stable on Monday, June 23, amid a wait-and-see sentiment among market participants, an approach exacerbated by increased tensions in the Middle East, sources told Fastmarkets. Market participants anticipated a sharp increase in oil prices following the United States’ military strike on June 21, which they believed would be a tailwind for commodity futures prices.
However, reality failed to match expectations, sources said.
For example, the most-traded August Shanghai crude oil contract on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange closed at 574.50 yuan ($80.25) per tonne on Monday. This was an increase of 7.90 yuan per tonne from the closing price of 566.60 yuan per tonne on June 20.
The increase rate was significantly lower than that observed on June 13, when the Israel-Iran conflict began and when the same contract closed at 529.90 yuan per tonne, marking an increase of 34.20 yuan per tonne from the closing price of 495.70 yuan per tonne on June 12.
Besides the crude oil contract, most other commodity prices in China’s futures market did not see significant changes on Monday.
This led to confusion among market participants. It remains uncertain when the geopolitical tensions in Iran will influence China’s commodity markets, including that of rebar, according to an industry analyst.
The wait-and-see approach in the rebar market resulted in stable prices and inactive transactions on Monday, sources said.
Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, ex-whs Eastern China was at 2,980-3,000 yuan per tonne on Monday, unchanged since June 16.
Market Chatter
End users maintain low procurement volumes of rebar on Monday, primarily due to weakened demand at construction sites in major eastern Chinese cities in the rainy weather. Additionally, end users remained bearish on rebar prices, given that June is traditionally a weak month for the construction sector, a trader based in Shanghai said.
Billet
Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for steel billet domestic, exw Tangshan, Northern China was 2,920 yuan per tonne including value-added tax on Monday, unchanged from Friday, June 20.
Shanghai Futures Exchange
The most-traded October rebar futures contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at 2,995 yuan per tonne on Monday, up by 3 yuan per tonne from the closing price of 2,992 yuan per tonne on Friday.