- Feng Hsin cuts rebar and scrap purchase rates
- Weak demand and lower import scrap weigh on market
Mysteel Global: Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer, has decided to slash its rebar list prices further by TWD 500/tonne (t) ($17/t) and reduce its buying prices of local scrap by TWD 200/t ($7/t) for transactions over 9-13 June, mainly in response to lower prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan and weak steel demand from local end-users, Mysteel Global learned.
With the latest adjustment, the mini-mill is offering its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 16,700/t ($558/t) Exw for business negotiations till this Friday, the lowest level since mid-December 2020, and its procurement price for local HMS 80:20 scrap reaches TWD 8,200/t ($274/t), following Monday’s TWD 200/t ($7/t) cut and a TWD 200/t ($7/t) reduction on last Thursday, a company official confirmed.
One major reason for the price cuts was the weakness in prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan, which reduced steel production costs of local mini-mills on the island and weakened the support for the prices of finished steel to some extent.
As of 9 June, the price of US-sourced HMS 80:20 scrap came in at $300/t CFR Taiwan, reversing down $3/t on week after the continuous rise over the prior three weeks, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap stayed unchanged on week at $318/t CFR Taiwan, a market source based in Taiwan said.
Besides, rebar demand from Taiwanese construction sites has been dampened by frequent rainfalls across the island in the wet season, aggravating the negative sentiment in the local steel market and persuading local mini-mills to trim their rebar list prices, Mysteel Global noted.
Rebar prices in the Chinese mainland also hovered low over the past week due to lackluster demand from end-users and weak support from the cost side with the fall in prices of some major steelmaking raw materials such as coke.
As of 6 June, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at RMB 3,228/t ($450/t) including the 13% VAT, still a low level though it had recovered by RMB 26/t ($4/t) from the recent low on 3 June.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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