Rebar Industry Upset

Individuals who have to purchase rebar should be aware of difficulty within the steel industry over a perceived row over Chinese steel imports.

Some contractors are angry about changes to minimum standards that could make obtaining steel rebar difficult, and are accusing legislators of attacking the free market model for steel materials.

Rebar fabricators met last month to discuss concerns that imported Chinese rebar was being targeted in an effort to limit free trade as regulators aim to limit the amount of steel that doesn’t reach minimum standards from entering the UK. This has led to threats by some to form a breakaway organisation that would be independent of the industry group British Association of Reinforcement, Construction News reported.

This is as the industry watchdog is now considering tightening the standards it uses when assessing steel. This is due to concern over the levels of alloys, such as boron, which frequently appear in Chinese steel despite their being no amount of boron alloys allowed in steel by current UK standards.

This could cause problems for the industry as many contractors do not want to have to consider where the steel is coming from in a free trade market, and there are also concerns over demand being met if Chinese steel is not used. Construction companies could see building work slowed if it is difficult to be able to obtain construction materials, in an industry which has already experienced significant slowdown in the last couple of months.

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills is understood to be monitoring the situation with regards to the British Association of Reinforcement.