Taiwan Feng Hsin's rebar, scrap prices keep stable

Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to roll over its rebar list prices and procurement prices for local scrap again for transactions over June 17-21, a company official confirmed on Tuesday.

As a result, for business negotiations till this Friday, the company's list price for 13mm dia rebar stays unchanged on week at TWD 19,100/tonne ($590/t) EXW, while it continues to pay TWD 10,500/t for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap, according to the official. This marks the second week for Feng Hsin to keep the two prices static, Mysteel Global notes.

One reason for the roll-over is that prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan remained stable, prompting the local steel market to assume a wait-and-see stance.

As of June 17, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap was reported at $345/t CFR Taiwan, unchanged from the previous week, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap registered $357/t CFR Taiwan, also unchanged on week, according to a local market source.

Rebar demand in Taiwan is being weakened by the high-temperatures and frequent rainfalls in summer that are undermining support for local steel prices, Mysteel Global noted.

As for the steel market in the Chinese mainland, prices of major steel products lost further ground during the past week with the thin sales in the physical market and the negative sentiment in the domestic market.

As of June 17, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a pointer to steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at a two-month low of Yuan 3,707/tonne ($512/t) including the 13% VAT, some Yuan 17/t less than that on June 11, the first working day after the holiday for China's Dragon Boat Festival.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between MySteel Global and BigMint.