Steel rebar futures in China rose to CNY 3,100 per tonne in early December, testing their highest level in three months, as the backdrop of lower supply and government support offset evidence of poor demand in the near term. The Chinese government considered new measures to slow the prolonged crisis in its property market, the largest source of global rebar demand, including lower taxes on home buying activities and fresh mortgage subsidies. This was after home prices deepened their downturn in the third quarter, while the official construction PMI in China reflected a fourth straight contraction in November. Meanwhile, crude steel output in China fell 12% annually in October, the lowest for the month since 2021. The result was consistent with pledges by China that industries suffering from overcapacity will undergo caps to ease the race to the bottom for smelters and the resulting deflationary spiral. In turn, steel exports fell by 12.5% from the previous year to 978.2 million tonnes.
