Taiwan's Feng Hsin cuts rebar, scrap prices

Mysteel Global: Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to cut its rebar list prices and procurement prices for local scrap for transactions over August 5-9, according to a company official.

With the latest adjustment, the mini-mill is offering its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 18,900/tonne ($578/t) EXW for business discussions till this Friday, falling by TWD 400/t on week and hitting the lowest since mid-June 2023, while its buying price of local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap reaches TWD 10,200/t, lower by TWD 300/t from the previous week after staying at TWD 10,500/t for two months, the official told Mysteel Global.

It is Feng Hsin's first price cut in two months, as local mini-mills are not so confident about Taiwan's steel market after noting the significant fall in the prices of square billet, though global scrap prices delivered to Taiwan have recovered slightly.

As of August 5, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap came in at $348/t CFR Taiwan, up by $1/t from one week earlier, and the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap was reported at $360/t CFR Taiwan, higher by $3/t on week, a local market source said.

In parallel, steel demand from end-users in Taiwan was constrained by high temperatures. And the finished steel prices in Chinese mainland remained weak over the past week, aggravating the negative sentiment in Taiwan's steel market, Mysteel Global learned.

As of August 5, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a pointer to China's steel-market sentiment under Mysteel's assessment, came in at Yuan 3,394/t ($474/t) including the 13% VAT, still lower by Yuan 23/t on week though it had recovered somewhat from the 7.5-year low on July 31.

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