Taiwan: Feng Hsin holds rebar prices, raises scrap buying price by $6/t

• ‏Scrap buying price reaches four-month high
• Taiwan steel buyers remain cautious on demand

Taiwan’s largest rebar producer, Feng Hsin Steel, headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to roll over its rebar list price for business negotiations over 14-18 September, while hiking its buying price for local scrap by TWD 200/tonne (t) ($6/t) for transactions during the same period, according to a company official.

With the latest adjustments, the Taiwanese mini-mill continues to offer its 13mm-diameter rebar at TWD 18,100/t ($570/t) exw for business discussions through this Friday, the same level as one week before, while the company’s buying price for local HMS 80:20 scrap rises to TWD 9,800/t ($308/t), a new high since late June, the official confirmed.

Global steel scrap prices delivered to Taiwan have remained broadly firm lately, encouraging mini-mills on the island to hike their buying prices for local scrap accordingly, Mysteel Global noted.

The US-origin HMS 80:20 scrap price notched a two-month high of $339/t CFR Taiwan by 14 September, increasing for the third consecutive week by $5/t on week, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap dipped by $2/t on week to $358/t CFR Taiwan, according to a market source in Taiwan.

Since it had raised rebar list price for two consecutive weeks, Feng Hsin opts to keep this price unchanged this week to monitor market developments.

In parallel, rebar prices in the Chinese mainland lose ground amid a slow recovery in end-user demand and signs of softening cost support. This has also aggravated the wait-and-see sentiment in Taiwan’s steel market.

On 14 September, China’s national price of HRB400E 20mm rebar was assessed by Mysteel at RMB 3,315/t ($494/t) including the 13% VAT, falling by RMB 23/t ($3/t) ‍from one week earlier.

Although construction steel sales improved to some extent, it failed to meet market expectations for September, a traditional peak season for steel consumption in China.

Over 8-14 September, the combined daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses nationwide under Mysteel’s tracking averaged 92,524 t/day, still at a low level despite the recovery of 3,526 t/d on week.