Taiwan Feng Hsin lifts scrap prices, keeps rebar stable

Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung, Central Taiwan, has decided to lift its procurement price of locally-sourced scrap by TWD 200/tonne ($7.3/t) for its purchases over September 6-10 to encourage deliveries, a company official confirmed Monday. However, as construction steel demand continues to be depressed, the mini-mill is keeping its rebar list prices stable this week.

Consequently, until this Friday, Feng Hsin's buying price for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap rises to TWD 11,600/t (the price had stayed at TWD 11,400/t for the three previous weeks), while the steelmaker's 13mm dia rebar list price stays unchanged on the week at TWD 22,600/t, according to the company official.

Feng Hsin aims to hold its rebar list prices steady to wait and see for any market change this week, as demand from end-users has not seen any substantial recovery. "But over the prior three weeks, we have canceled the discounts we normally offer buyers in actual trading discussions, given the higher costs we're facing for raw materials," the official told Mysteel Global.

Sentiment among Taiwan's scrap traders has improved somewhat recently as the power restrictions imposed on local EAF mills effective from June 1 will be lifted at the end of this month, and scrap consumption from local mini-mills is expected to recover later, according to Feng Hsin's official.

Major steel mills in China also lifted their scrap buying prices recently given the limited deliveries to their steelworks and their firm demand. For example, Shagang Group (Shagang), China's leading EAF steelmaker headquartered in East China's Jiangsu province, raised its steel scrap procurement price by Yuan 80/tonne ($12.4/t) with immediate effect on September 3, as reported.

However, prices of imported scrap in Taiwan have remained weak overall recently.

As of September 6, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap registered $450/t CFR Taiwan, the same level from one week before, while that of Japan-origin H2 scrap slipped further by another $5/t on a week to $470/t CFR Taiwan, a local market source said.

Japanese H2 grade scrap prices for domestic sales softened last week with the smoother deliveries to mills, and some mills had halted receiving new deliveries after having stocked up sufficient volumes, as Mysteel Global reported.

Written by Nancy Zheng, zhengmm@mysteel.com

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