Taiwan's Feng Hsin rolls over rebar, scrap prices

Mysteel Global: Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to roll over its rebar list prices and local scrap buying prices for transactions over November 25-29 after the price cuts over the prior two weeks, according to a company official.

For business discussions till this Friday, the mini-mill continues to offer its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 18,400/tonne ($567/t) EXW, the same level from the previous week, and its procurement price for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap also stays unchanged on week at TWD 9,000/t, the official confirmed.

Prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan have remained weak recently. The price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap slipped by another $10/t on week to $305/t CFR Taiwan as of November 25, continuing a downward trend for the fifth consecutive week, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap was reported at $320/t CFR Taiwan, losing by $5/t from the prior week, a local market source said.

Although further decreases in global scrap prices reduce the production costs of local mini-mills in Taiwan to some extent, they are in no hurry to lower their rebar list prices this week amid market expectations for steady downstream demand in the coming term.

Downstream building contractors in Taiwan usually accelerate their pace of construction before the Chinese New Year holiday, which may boost Taiwan's steel demand and lend some support to local steel prices, Mysteel Global noted.

Besides, finished steel prices in Chinese mainland kept rangebound over the past week, which persuaded some mini-mills in Taiwan to stand on the sidelines to monitor market changes.

For example, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a pointer to China's steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,438/tonne ($474/t) including the 13% VAT as of November 25, rising by Yuan 9/t from one week earlier.

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