What is the difference between wire rod and rebar?

Rebarare made of low-carbon steel or low-alloy steel (such as HRB400, HRB500), with a carbon content typically below 0.25%. To meet the bending and tensile strength  of building structures, Rebar need good plasticity and toughness. They are usually straight bars or coils, with a large diameter and a length generally between 6 and 12 meters. Rebar are the most consumed steel product in the construction industry, mainly used in civil engineering, bridges, tunnels, and other fields.

Wire rod is a hot-rolled semi-finished steel (or aluminum/copper) product, usually in round coils, used as a base material (raw material) for further drawing or processing into various metal wires used in the manufacture of nails, bolts, mesh, springs, cables, and Welding Rods in construction, automotive, and manufacturing industries. Wire rod is produced from steel billets and sold in large coils. The carbon content varies depending on the application, ranging from ordinary low-carbon steel to high-carbon steel for special purposes.

In practical applications, these two processes can be used in combination; for example, in prestressed concrete, reinforcing bars are used as ordinary reinforcing bars, while high-strength steel wire/strand is used to provide prestress.