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Rebar Futures (RB) — The World's Most Traded Construction Steel Contract

Rebar (steel reinforcement bar) futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange are the beating heart of the world's largest commodity market. On active days this single contract trades more volume than most entire exchanges. If you're going to learn one Chinese futures contract, this is it.

Contract Specifications

Specifications are reference values compiled from SHFE publications. Margin ratios and price limits are adjusted dynamically — the exchange's latest announcements always prevail.

What the Price Actually Buys You

One lot controls 10 tons of rebar. At a price of ¥3,500/ton, one lot is worth ¥35,000 (≈$4,900) — and with exchange margin around 8%, you control that with roughly ¥2,800 (≈$390). Every ¥1 move in price = ¥10 per lot.

That structure makes RB remarkably accessible: a single-tick move covers the round-trip commission on most accounts, and the contract's enormous liquidity means tight spreads and clean fills even for larger size.

What Moves Rebar

• Chinese construction and property demand. Rebar is poured concrete's skeleton — its price tracks real estate starts, infrastructure spending, and seasonal construction activity (spring and autumn peaks).
• Iron ore and coking coal costs. Rebar is made from iron ore and coke — cost-side pushes from DCE iron ore and coking coal flow straight through.
• Steel mill margins and production policy. When mill margins get fat, supply floods in. When Beijing orders production cuts (environmental or capacity policy), supply tightens overnight.
• Inventory cycles. Weekly rebar inventory data (steel mills + social warehouses) is the market's pulse. Destocking seasons = bullish fuel; surprise builds = sharp selloffs.
• Macro sentiment. PBOC liquidity, property easing headlines, and infrastructure stimulus all hit rebar fast — it's China's most sensitive macro proxy in the commodity space.

Why Traders Love It

Trend quality. RB is famous among Chinese traders for clean, persistent trends — when steel demand turns, rebar trends for weeks. It rewards trend-following and punishes fade-the-move strategies.

Session fit. The Beijing night session (21:00–23:00) is US morning and EU afternoon — you can trade the most violent part of RB's day at a civilized hour. The day session (9:00–15:00 Beijing) maps to US evening and EU morning.

Honest tape. Because volume is so huge, RB's price action is technically clean — support/resistance, breakouts, and moving-average structure work better here than in thin contracts.

What to Watch Out For

• Policy shocks. A single NDRC or exchange headline can gap the market. Respect position sizing around major Chinese policy windows.
• Contract rotation. Liquidity migrates between the Jan/May/Oct contracts months before expiry. Always trade the main (highest open-interest) contract — our evaluation environment only includes main contracts, which handles this for you.
• Limit moves. RB can lock limit-down in panic days. Never run size that assumes you can always exit.

Trading RB on XS Select

All XS Select evaluations include RB and every other major Chinese commodity contract, on real Wenhua Finance market data with institutional liquidity. Commission is set at 2x the exchange standard (charged on open and close) — replicating professional trading conditions.