Taiwan Feng Hsin's rebar, scrap prices remain stable

Mysteel Global: Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to hold its rebar list prices and buying prices of local scrap again for transactions over 4-8 November, according to a company official.

For business negotiations till this Friday, the mini-mill continues to offer its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 18,800/tonne (t) ($588/t) EXW, the same level since late October, and its procurement price for local HMS (80:20) scrap also stays unchanged on week at TWD 9,600/t, the official confirmed.

As of November 4, the price of US-sourced HMS (80:20) scrap was reported at $320/t CFR Taiwan, down by another $5/t on week, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap registered $325/t CFR Taiwan, the same level from one week earlier, a local market source said.

Although prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan remain weak, local mini-mills would like to stay on the sidelines to monitor the market changes, as many market participants expect that China's central government may launch more stimulus policies this week to stabilize the country's economic growth.

Finished steel prices in the Chinese mainland weakened recently with the wait-and-see sentiment and the shrinking demand from downstream users, Mysteel Global noted.

As of November 4, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a pointer to China's steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at RMB 3,584/t ($504/t) including the 13% VAT, lower by RMB 96/t from one week before.

Construction steel sales in China's spot markets also slowed over the past week, as demand from end users showed signs of shrinking in northern China where cold wintry weather had already set in, though consumption of construction steel in the country's eastern and southern regions remained stable so far.

Over October 29-November 4, the daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese trading houses under Mysteel's survey averaged 116,887 t/day (d), lower by 9,427 t/d from the prior week.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.