- Taiwanese mills hit by weak summer demand
- US HMS 80:20 remains at $330/t CFR
Taiwan’s largest rebar producer, Feng Hsin Steel, headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to roll over its rebar list price and buying price of local scrap for transactions over 24-28 August to monitor further market developments, according to a company official.
For business discussions through this Friday, the Taiwanese mini-mill continues to offer its 13mm-diameter rebar at TWD 17,600/tonne (t) ($553/t) EXW, unchanged on week after a price cut of TWD 200/t ($6/t) over the prior week, and its buying price for local HMS 80:20 scrap also stays flat at TWD 9,200/t ($289/t), the same level as six weeks earlier, the official confirmed.
Rebar demand from local end-users remains dull amid high temperatures and frequent heavy rains in summer, while prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan hold largely stable, prompting mini-mills on the island to maintain their rebar list prices and procurement prices of local scrap as they adopt a wait-and-see approach, Mysteel Global notes.
As of 24 August, the US-origin HMS 80:20 scrap price was reported at $330/t CFR Taiwan, unchanged since late July. No quotation for Japanese H2 scrap was available over the past week, according to a market source in Taiwan.
In the Chinese mainland, rebar prices have strengthened recently thanks to firmer cost support from rising prices of major steelmaking raw materials, particularly coking coal and coke. Meanwhile, improved spot sales of construction steel items in the domestic market have also boosted market sentiment and offered further support to rebar prices, Mysteel Global learned.
On 24 August, Mysteel assessed China’s national price of HRB400E 20mm rebar at RMB 3,271/t ($487/t) including the 13% VAT, growing by RMB 52/t ($8/t) from one week before and marking the highest since 28 July.
Mysteel’s other survey showed that the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese trading houses nationwide under its tracking averaged 95,947 t/day over 18 August-24 August, picking up by 8,398 t/d or 9.6% on week.
Note: This article has been published in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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