Taiwan Feng Hsin lifts scrap price by $10/t, rebar stable

Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer, has decided to raise its buying price for locally-sourced scrap by TWD 300/tonne ($10.2/t) over August 24-28 to reflect the robust price in global scrap markets, a company official confirmed on Tuesday. But the mill is keeping its rebar list price stable for business during that period, he told Mysteel Global.

"We had raised our rebar list prices in advance last Thursday by TWD 300/t. That's because most mini-mills in Taiwan refused to sell at a low price and preferred to hold off selling after noting the persistent strength in global scrap prices," Feng Hsin official explained.

For business till this Friday therefore, the mini-mill headquartered in Kaohsiung in south Taiwan, is offering its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 15,300/t EXW, while its procurement price for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap grows to TWD 7,600/t, both up TWD 300/t from one week earlier, according to the official.

International scrap prices have climbed further over the past week, boosting sentiment in Taiwan's steel market and encouraging local mini-mills to raise their procurement prices for locally-sourced scrap and rebar sales prices accordingly, Mysteel Global learned.

As of August 24, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap in Taiwan had increased for the seventh straight week to $270/t CFR Taiwan, jumping by another $8/t on week and touching a one-year high, a market source there said. Meanwhile, the price of Japanese H2 scrap also grew to its highest level since mid-August of 2019, gaining $7/t from one week before to $287/t CFR Taiwan.

Major steel producers elsewhere have also lifted their scrap buying prices to respond to the price hike globally. For example, Shagang Group, China's largest electric-arc-furnace steelmaker in East China's Jiangsu province, has decided to raise its steel scrap procurement price by Yuan 50/tonne ($7.1/t) effective Tuesday in hopes of reversing the continuing decline in scrap deliveries to its steelworks, as Mysteel Global reported.

This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint Research.