Hot-rolled steel bars with ribs on the surface, placed in concrete so that the steel carries the tension the concrete cannot. Rebar is the largest single steel product in the Middle East by tonnage: every slab, column, foundation and bridge deck in the region is reinforced with it.
Concrete is strong in compression and weak in tension. Steel bars cast into it carry the tension, so a reinforced concrete beam or slab can span and bend without cracking apart. The ribs rolled onto the surface lock the bar into the concrete so the two act together; the pattern of the ribs also identifies the mill and the grade.
Rebar is rolled from billets on a bar mill. Most modern mills quench the bar with water as it leaves the last stand and let the hot core temper the surface — the thermo-mechanical treatment (TMT, sometimes sold as QST or Tempcore) that gives a hard outer layer, a ductile core and a high yield strength without expensive alloying. Mills without that line reach the same grade with micro-alloying, usually vanadium or niobium.
Grades are set by yield strength and ductility. B500B to BS 4449 has a characteristic yield of 500 MPa and the ductility class B that most building codes require; B500C is more ductile and is preferred in seismic zones. In American practice Grade 60 (420 MPa) to ASTM A615 is the common grade, and ASTM A706 is the weldable low-alloy alternative.
The GCC is one of the world's largest rebar markets and is largely self-supplied: mills in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain roll rebar from local billets and DRI-based steel, with imports from Turkey and elsewhere filling gaps. Specifications usually call for BS 4449 B500B or the GCC adoption of ISO 6935-2. MESteel publishes weekly rebar prices EXW UAE, CPT Saudi Arabia and FOB Turkey.
In the Gulf, corrosion of the reinforcement is the main threat to a concrete structure: hot, humid air, chlorides from seawater, saline groundwater and sabkha soils break down the protective alkalinity of the concrete around the bar, and the rust then expands and cracks the cover. The first defence is good concrete and enough cover; where exposure is severe, specifications add fusion-bonded epoxy-coated bars (ASTM A775, or ASTM A934 for bars coated after bending), hot-dip galvanized bars (ASTM A767), corrosion-inhibiting admixtures or stainless steel rebar in the splash zone. Coated bars must be handled and cut without damaging the coating, and any damage touched up.
A bar is ordered by its nominal diameter, which is the diameter of a plain round bar of the same mass per metre. Mass per metre is therefore fixed by the diameter — about d²/162 kg/m with d in millimetres — and is what the tolerance in the standard is measured against.
Full dimensions: Metric rebar sizes and mass per metre · US rebar sizes (ASTM A615 / A706)
| Region | Standard | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| UK | BS 4449 BSI |
Steel for the reinforcement of concrete — weldable reinforcing steel; grades B500A, B500B and B500C. The usual specification in the GCC |
| Europe | EN 10080 CEN-CENELEC |
Steel for the reinforcement of concrete — weldable reinforcing steel, general requirements |
| International | ISO 6935-2 ISO |
Steel for the reinforcement of concrete — Part 2: ribbed bars |
| GCC | GSO ISO 6935-2 GSO |
The GCC adoption of ISO 6935-2 for ribbed reinforcing bars (current edition 2022) |
| USA | ASTM A615/A615M ASTM |
Deformed and plain carbon-steel bars for concrete reinforcement — Grades 40, 60, 80 and 100 (280, 420, 550, 690) |
| USA | ASTM A706/A706M ASTM |
Deformed and plain low-alloy steel bars, weldable, for seismic and welded applications |
| Japan | JIS G3112 JSA |
Steel bars for concrete reinforcement — SD295, SD345, SD390, SD490 |
| China | GB/T 1499.2 SAC |
Steel for the reinforcement of concrete — hot-rolled ribbed bars; HRB400, HRB500 and the seismic 'E' grades |
| India | IS 1786 BIS |
High-strength deformed steel bars and wires for concrete reinforcement — Fe 415 to Fe 600, with 'D' and 'S' variants |
| Russia / CIS | GOST 34028 | Reinforcing rolled products for reinforced concrete — classes A400, A500C, A600 |
| Russia / CIS | GOST 5781 replaced by GOST 34028 |
Hot-rolled steel for reinforcement of reinforced concrete — classes A-I to A-IV (A240–A600) |
| Egypt | ES 262 EOS |
Egyptian standard for steel bars for the reinforcement of concrete |
Grade equivalents and the standards bodies: Steel grades & standards
Steel Mills - Agents & Traders · Stockist - Distributor · Base Materials · Dubai
Steel Mills - Agents & Traders · Stockist - Distributor · Base Materials · Dubai
Coil Service Center · Stockist - Distributor · Fabrication · Dubai
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