Taiwan: Feng Hsin rolls over rebar prices, raises local scrap buying rates

• Short working week due to holiday
• Firm global scrap prices support hike

Mysteel Global: Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to roll over its rebar list price for business discussions over 24 February-26 February, while the company has hiked its buying price for local scrap by TWD 200/tonne (t) ($6.4/t) for transactions during the same period, a company official confirmed on Tuesday.

It is a short working week in Taiwan due to the public holiday on February 28. The company held its weekly pricing meeting on Tuesday this week to assess market trends following Taiwan’s Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday over 14 February-22, Mysteel Global learned.

For business negotiations through this Thursday, the Taiwanese mini-mill is offering its 13mm-diameter rebar at TWD 16,900/t ($540/t) EXW, being unchanged from that on 9 February, while its buying price for local HMS 80:20 scrap reaches TWD 8,800/t ($281/t), rising by TWD 200/t from two weeks earlier, the official confirmed.

Prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan have remained firm recently, encouraging the company to raise its buying prices for local scrap accordingly, Mysteel Global noted.

As of 24 February, the price of US-sourced HMS 80:20 scrap was reported at $322/t CFR Taiwan, higher by $3/t from two weeks before. while there was no quotation for Japan-origin H2 scrap, according to a local market source in Taiwan.

However, Feng Hsin is in no hurry to adjust its rebar list price this week, as it would like to hold the price to monitor market changes after the CNY break.

Rebar prices on the Chinese mainland remained stable during the CNY holiday ending on 23 February amid the quiet spot market. Market participants expect that China’s domestic steel prices may recover after the long break, driven by a gradual recovery in demand from end-users and the approaching traditional peak season for steel consumption in March-April.

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