Chinese construction steel prices are expected to continue consolidating on a subdued note in the short term, according to Shanghai Metals Market (SMM). On 27 October 2026, rebar futures initially fell before rebounding, with the most-traded contract closing at 3,040, down 0.03% from the previous trading day. In the spot market, morning quotes in most regions followed the decline in futures, while in the afternoon, gains in coking coal and coke futures lifted quotes in some markets.
On the supply side, SMM reported that blast furnace steel mills have seen their profitability recover recently, and some mills have resumed production on construction steel rolling lines as planned. An SMM survey put this week's construction steel supply impact from maintenance at 1.0328 million mt, down 95,500 mt week-on-week. Regional divergence was notable among electric arc furnace (EAF) producers.
Several EAF mills in southwest China reduced output to control production, while demand in east and south China was moderate and some mills extended operating hours, leading to a slight overall increase in supply. A separate SMM analysis published the same day reported that as of 27 October, the operating rate at 50 Chinese EAF mills primarily producing construction steel stood at 35.14%, down 1.20 percentage points week-on-week. Capacity utilization came in at 36.52%, down 1.74 percentage points, and average daily construction steel output was 81,300 t, down 3,900 t from the previous period.
On the demand side, the afternoon rally in futures significantly revived trading sentiment, and shipments improved from earlier levels. However, SMM noted that overall market sentiment remains divided. The rebound in futures therefore provided only a limited boost to market confidence.
SMM concluded that construction steel currently lacks sufficient fundamental drivers to establish an independent trend, and prices are likely to remain range-bound with a subdued tone in the near term. Source: Shanghai Metals Market (SMM), published 27 October 2026, 17:29 (GMT+8), news.metal.com. SMM states that its data are processed from publicly available information, market communication and its internal database model, are provided for reference only, and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.
Source: news.metal.com