Hot Rolled Coil-Rebar Spread Rose After Falling

SHANGHAI, Mar 2 (SMM) - In January, the Hot rolled coil-rebar spread rose after falling. In the first half of the month, the rebar supply dropped rapidly due to the shutdown of EAF steel mills and maintenance taken by BF steel mills. However, the supply of HRC increased driven by the maintenance and production of steel mills. As such, the spread gradually shrank. In the second half of the month, the consumption of the construction industry was stagnated around the Chinese New Year. The downstream demand for HRC was obviously stronger than that of rebar. Superimposed on the export, the market was generally optimistic about the demand for steel plat/sheet, and thus the spread expanded again. In February, the supply of HRC and rebar increased slightly and the demand may rebound under the support of domestic sales and export demand for steel plate/sheet. Therefore, the spread may expand slightly.