Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer, has decided to keep its rebar list prices and local scrap buying price stable for transactions over January 11-15 to monitor price trends in the global scrap market, a company official confirmed on Tuesday.
Consequently, for business till this Friday the mini-mill headquartered in Taichung, Central Taiwan, continues to offer its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 19,900/tonne ($711/t) EXW, while its buying price for locally-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap also remains unchanged from the prior week at TWD 11,200/t, Mysteel Global was told.
The two prices are taking a pause after climbing continuously for seven weeks, mainly due to the divergence in global scrap prices, Mysteel Global was told.
As of January 11, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap in Taiwan continued strengthening to reach $452/t CFR Taiwan, but the on-week growth had narrowed to $2/t against the large rise in December. On the other hand, that for Japan-origin H2 scrap retreated slightly, losing $3/t on week to $457/t CFR Taiwan and ending the persistent rally since the start of October, according to a local market source.
“We are in no hurry to adjust our rebar sales prices and buying prices for local scrap as the price trend (for scrap) globally is not very clear,” Feng Hsin’s official explained.
Besides, these next few weeks in the leadup to the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February are the traditional peak season for steel consumption in Taiwan, as local construction contractors usually accelerate their pace of building to complete projects before the holiday. Long steel sales performed well in Taiwan last week, giving local steel mills some confidence to hold their rebar sales prices steady and to wait-and-see for the time being.
Scrap prices in China moved up further last week, forcing steelmakers to lift their procurement price accordingly. For example, Shagang Group, China’s largest electric-arc-furnace steelmaker in East China’s Jiangsu province, had decided to raise its steel scrap buying price by another Yuan 150/tonne ($23.2/t) effective from January 9 to rescue deliveries, the second such rise since the start of this year, as Mysteel Global reported.
Written by Nancy Zheng, zhengmm@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint Research.
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