Rebar Price Keeps Flat in Tokyo

The market price of concrete reinforcing steel bar is flat at around 58,000 yen per tonne for products with 19 millimeters diameter in Tokyo. The local steel bar makers’ association indicated the supply and demand could maintain balanced for small sized rebar as well as base sized products, when electric furnace makers keep their output to the demand level. The users are expected to increase the orders for small sized rebar in April when the demand recovers seasonally.The rolling lead time is 2 months at makers for base sized bars. The demand is firm for base sized products and is also likely to increase for small sized. Electric furnaces continue the balanced output for small sized bars just as much as the immediate demand. The inventory volume is low both at makers and dealers and the local supply shows sign to get tight both for base and small sized bars.Rebar orders are decreasing currently when the building inspection takes longer time than before in Japan due to the falsification problem of building earthquake resistance. Rebar makers try to keep the price by reducing the output and sales to the lower demand level. The rebar price seems to keep flat till spring when the demand turns brisk.