Taiwan Feng Hsin's rebar, scrap prices remain stable

Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer headquartered in Kaohsiung in south Taiwan, has decided to roll over its rebar list prices and buying price for locally-sourced scrap for a third straight week over October 19-23, despite the small rises seen in global scrap prices, a company official confirmed on Tuesday.

For the mini-mill's business till this Friday, Feng Hsin continues to offer its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 15,300/tonne ($533/t) EXW, unchanged since late September, while its procurement price for locally-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap remains at TWD 7,300/t, according to the official.

Although scrap prices in the global market rose slightly over the past week, many mini-mills in Taiwan still decided to wait-and-see for the time being, rather than immediately follow the growth in the global market, given the thin sales in the local finished steel market, Mysteel Global learned.

"Rebar sales in Taiwan saw some recovery last week after the Double Tenth holiday, but the market has fallen silent again this week. The small growth in global scrap prices could not lend any strong support to the steel market here," another market source in South Taiwan told Mysteel Global.

"We still have some stocks (of scrap) at hand, so at the moment we are in no hurry to lift our buying prices (for locally-sourced scrap) to encourage deliveries," Feng Hsin's official explained.

As of October 19, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap in Taiwan reversed up slightly after sliding for four weeks to reach $270/t CFR Taiwan, gaining $2/t from one week earlier, according to the Feng Hsin official. That for Japanese H2 scrap grew further for the third consecutive week, rising by another $3/t on week to $288/t CFR Taiwan.

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