Solb, a subsidiary of Qatar Steel based in Jazan in the western part of Saudi Arabia, is actively offering rebar and wire rod to customers on the west coast for delivery in late May and early June.

Its delivered prices for straight rebar, wire rod and rebar in coils are at SAR 2,250/tonne ($600) and SAR 2,400/t ($640) respectively, on a cash or LC at sight basis. Solb's billet feedstock supplied by parent company Qatar Steel is expected to be delivered to the mill in mid-May, notes Kallanish. 

After Qatar Steel injected a large amount of cash in the second half of 2023 to enable Solb to settle its financial liabilities with creditors and debt holders, the Saudi government supported the integrated mill's resumption. Within a few months, Solb is planning to restart its meltshop, according to sources familiar with the issue.

In the wholesale and retail markets, rebar sentiment and demand are unchanged. Solb's penetration in the market will bring competition to the rebar market, mainly with Al Yamamah, Tilal and Tameer, all based on the west coast. On wire rod, it will compete with Hadeed, Al Ittefaq and Egypt-origin imported material.

Based in southern Saudi Arabia, close to the Yemen border, Solb has a 1 million tonnes/year of rebar, wire rod and rebar in coils capacity, fed by an electric arc furnace-based billet plant of the same capacity. 

The steelmaker traditionally sourced the majority of its direct reduced iron feedstock from Qatar Steel. Since its meltshop closure, the mill has been rolling rebar on a tolling basis for companies that provided billet, after relations between Saudi Arabia and Qatar soured over a diplomatic spat in 2017. Qatar restored its diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in 2021, in a move brokered by Kuwait and the US.