News Room - Steel Industry

Posted on 18 Dec 2025

UAE rebar pricing to steer January billet trade

Billet suppliers and rebar re-rollers in the United Arab Emirates are awaiting the benchmark mill’s January-rolling rebar prices, which are expected to set the direction for both domestic and GCC-origin billet prices for January.

In December, UAE rebar re-rollers concluded billet purchases at around $482/tonne delivered against LC at sight and approximately $485/t delivered against LC 60 days.

Based on monthly rebar production capacity, the main billet buyers are Asas with around 90,000-95,000 tonnes/month, followed by Union at 35,000 t/m and Gulf Steel at around 25,000 t/m, including roughly 10,000 t/m of melting shop capacity.

However, both Asas and Union are currently covered with billet supply until the end of March, while Gulf Steel is likely to conclude a 15,000t billet deal for January delivery towards the end of December. Overall, local and Omani billet availability appears to exceed current demand in UAE.

For ECAS-certified imported billet, Indonesian suppliers are offering April load-readiness, implying the earliest delivery at end-April to early May. Chinese suppliers, by contrast, can still offer end-February to early-March delivery.

Consequently, Asas and Union are expected to release billet buying enquiries in the first week of January to avoid any potential supply gap. Both mills are understood to be prioritising GCC-origin billet, mainly from Qatar and Oman, provided target price levels and deferred payments can be met, Kallanish understands.

Local rebar sales by mills to traders and cut-and-bend operators are typically concluded against LC 90 days. As a result, deferred billet payment terms of 60–90 days remain attractive for buyers.

Meanwhile, local and Omani billet suppliers are targeting $485-490/t delivered against LC at sight. Should rebar prices be set higher by the benchmark mill, billet suppliers may seek an additional $5-10/t premium.

Local scrap prices remain unchanged, while buying activity is subdued as mills aim to keep year-end inventories as low as possible. Scrap prices are assessed as follows:

• LMS pure: AED 800-820/t
• LMS 50:50: AED 930-950/t
• HMS 1/2 (80:20): AED 1,050-1,060/t
• HMS 1 (no cast iron / no galvanised): AED 1,090/t
• HMS sheared (processed): AED 1,110-1,130/t
• HMS shredded: AED 1,160-1,180/t
• PNS (unprocessed): AED 1,050-1,100/t (low-end is poor quality)
• PNS processed (2×2 ft): AED 1,150/t
• Fabrication scrap (2×2 ft): AED 1,130-1,150/t
• End-cut scrap (mainly rebar): AED 1,175/t
• Rebar scrap from demolished buildings (unpressed): AED 1,120/t
• Re-rollable scrap: AED 1,100/t (preferred by the benchmark mill)

Source:Kallanish