Taiwan Feng Hsin rolls over its rebar, scrap prices

Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung, central Taiwan, has decided to once again roll over its rebar list prices and procurement prices for locally-sourced scrap for business negotiations over April 18-22 to monitor market changes in the coming term, a company official confirmed on Tuesday.

For transactions till this Friday, the mini-mill's list price of 13mm dia rebar stays at TWD 25,100/tonne ($859/t) EXW - unchanged since late March - while the mini-mill continues to pay TWD 15,000/t for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap, according to the official.

Scrap prices in the global market continue to track lower, aggravating the negative sentiment in the domestic market, the company official explained. "Many end-users are in no hurry to place new orders for rebar for the time being, as they expect that global scrap prices will soften further in the coming term, which may drag down rebar prices in Taiwan," he told Mysteel Global.

As of April 18, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap had steadily declined to reach $560/t CFR Taiwan, down for the second week by $10/t on week, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap had decreased by another $8/t during the same period to reach $579/t CFR Taiwan, according to a local market source.

However, mini-mills in Taiwan have not trimmed their rebar offering prices in response, Mysteel Global noted. The steelmakers are preferring to wait and see after noting the firm orders from some local building contractors during the traditional peak season for steel consumption in spring.

China's scrap prices have risen steadily since mid-March due to the limited deliveries to Chinese mills. As of April 18, Mysteel's steel scrap price was assessed at Yuan 3,895.3/tonne ($611/t) and including the 13% VAT, up by another Yuan 8.4/t from one week earlier.

Written by Nancy Zheng, zhengmm@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an exchange agreement between MySteel Global and SteelMint.