Taiwan’s Feng Hsin hikes rebar, scrap prices by $13/t

The recovery in global scrap markets has led Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, to decide to raise its rebar list price and buying price for local scrap by TWD 400/tonne ($13.3/t) for business discussions over August 15-19, according to a company official on Tuesday.

With the latest adjustment, the mini-mill is offering its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 19,600/t EXW for local sales till this Friday – its first price hike since the end of March – and is now paying scrap dealers TWD 9,700/t for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap, the official confirmed.

Scrap prices in international markets have recovered somewhat this week, improving market sentiment in Taiwan and encouraging local steel mills to lift their scrap procurement prices and rebar list prices accordingly, Mysteel Global learned.

As of August 15, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap was reported at $345/t CFR Taiwan, reversing up by $10/t on week after staying at the 20-month low of $335/t for two weeks, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap posted a larger on-week rise of $15/t to reach $355/t CFR Taiwan, according to a local market source.

Chinese scrap prices have been moving up steadily since late July, reflecting limited supply and the recovery in demand from local steel mills, with the steel scrap price index under Mysteel’s assessment reaching Yuan 3,224.3/tonne ($475/t) on delivery and including the 13% VAT as of August 15, higher by Yuan 210.9/t from one week before.

Major steel producers in China also decided to lift their scrap procurement prices further to encourage deliveries. For example, Shagang Group, China’s leading electric-arc-furnace steelmaker in East China’s Jiangsu province, has raised its scrap buying price by another Yuan 150/t effective August 13. The mill’s total rise so far this month has reached Yuan 550/t, Mysteel Global noted.

Written by Nancy Zheng, zhengmm@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.