Taiwan's Feng Hsin cuts rebar list price by $6.3/t
...
Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to cut its rebar list prices by TWD 200/tonne ($6.3/t) for transactions over March 18-22, while its procurement price for local scrap remains unchanged for this week, a company official confirmed on Tuesday.
With the latest adjustment, the mini-mill is offering its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 19,200/t EXW for the business discussions till this Friday, according to the official. On the other hand, despite international scrap prices weakening of late, the steelmaker's buying price for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap keeps stable at TWD 10,700/t.
Over the past week, scrap prices in the global market have continued to soften, with the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap reaching $350/t CFR Taiwan, lower by another $5/t from the previous week, according to a local market source, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap has also decreased by $5/t on week to reach $360/t CFR Taiwan.
Mini-mills in Taiwan are holding their procurement prices for local scrap this week to monitor any market changes in the coming week, as they believe that global scrap prices may be about to bottom after their continuous fall since late January, Mysteel Global was told.
However, finished steel prices in mainland China continued declining over the past week, which also placed some pressure on Taiwan's steel market, Mysteel Global noted.
As of March 18, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,666/tonne ($509/t) including the 13% VAT, slipping by Yuan 130/t from one week before.
Considering the lackluster demand from end-users and the steelmakers' thin profit margins, some Chinese long steel producers have slowed their production pace, which may ease the market pressure from the supply side to some extent, Mysteel Global learned.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Mysteel and BigMint.
