Pakistani rebar market inactive
2014-01-26 09:21:51 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 26 Jan 14 - The rebar market in Pakistan is slow at present when the price is on a decreasing trend due to the soft demand. The price of rebar ASTM A615 Φ12-20mm from local mills is PKR78,000-80,000/t (USD740-759/t) VAT included. Insiders predict that the market is hard to make much progress in the short term.
A rebar trader in Punjab reported that the price of ASTM A615 Φ12-20mm from local mills is PKR79,000/t (USD751/t) VAT included, the same as that of last trading day, but down by around PKR3,000/t in past two months.
The source said it is winter from December to next February in Pakistan and some regions in the north part are cold, which influences the operation of outside construction projects. Therefore, the demand from downstream buyers is not strong. His yearly sales volume of rebar is 5,000t and he only took a small order of 100-200t this month. He does not build any stocks but only purchases products on receiving orders from buyers because he is not quite confident of the coming market, deeming it is unwise to build stocks when the market is slow.
A rebar producer with a yearly production capacity of 150,000t in Karachi reported that the current price of ASTM A615 Φ12-20mm is PKR80,000/t (USD759/t) VAT included, unchanged compared with that of last week but down by over PKR1,000/t since early this month.
The source said the economic situation in Pakistan is not pleasant and many downstream industries are running slowly, so the demand for steel products is restrained and the current market is inactive. Besides, the price of the raw material-scrap showed some clues of decreasing recently, which also dragged down finished steel prices. The current price of steel scrap HMS 1&2 80:20 in Japan decreased by JPY300/t this week to around JPY35,000/t (USD340/t), and it has been moving down for consecutive five weeks, so mills in Pakistan, India and South Korea are waiting for a further price decline to import. Thus, the source is pessimistic about the coming market, believing the market price of rebar is unlikely to rebound in the near future.
A rebar trader in Punjab reported that the price of ASTM A615 Φ12-20mm from local mills is PKR79,000/t (USD751/t) VAT included, the same as that of last trading day, but down by around PKR3,000/t in past two months.
The source said it is winter from December to next February in Pakistan and some regions in the north part are cold, which influences the operation of outside construction projects. Therefore, the demand from downstream buyers is not strong. His yearly sales volume of rebar is 5,000t and he only took a small order of 100-200t this month. He does not build any stocks but only purchases products on receiving orders from buyers because he is not quite confident of the coming market, deeming it is unwise to build stocks when the market is slow.
A rebar producer with a yearly production capacity of 150,000t in Karachi reported that the current price of ASTM A615 Φ12-20mm is PKR80,000/t (USD759/t) VAT included, unchanged compared with that of last week but down by over PKR1,000/t since early this month.
The source said the economic situation in Pakistan is not pleasant and many downstream industries are running slowly, so the demand for steel products is restrained and the current market is inactive. Besides, the price of the raw material-scrap showed some clues of decreasing recently, which also dragged down finished steel prices. The current price of steel scrap HMS 1&2 80:20 in Japan decreased by JPY300/t this week to around JPY35,000/t (USD340/t), and it has been moving down for consecutive five weeks, so mills in Pakistan, India and South Korea are waiting for a further price decline to import. Thus, the source is pessimistic about the coming market, believing the market price of rebar is unlikely to rebound in the near future.
