Spot Rebar Prices to be Weighed down as Inventory Peaks

SHANGHAI, Mar 2 (SMM) - Spot rebar prices should be weighed down in the short term due to inventory peaking in late February or early March.

Many steel mills that had planned to restart after the Chinese Lantern Festival deferred production resumption due to the plummeting prices. Therefore, the supply pressure in February was kept in check. And in-plant stock accumulation was slower than the inventory accumulation at social warehouses. As some steel mills have just delivered cargoes booked before CNY holidays to distributors in February, some pressure from in-plant inventory will be diverted to social warehouses.

In terms of inventory at social warehouses, the market is currently relatively pessimistic over demand. According to downstream feedback, the production resumption at construction sites concentrated after the Lantern Festival. The actual demand normally improves significantly in one to two weeks after the Lantern Festival. Therefore, the market demand remained poor in the first half of February, which means social inventory would have accumulated further and peaked in late February or early March.