Taiwan: Feng Hsin holds rebar and scrap prices amid firmer global scrap

• Holiday restocking lifts Chinese construction steel demand
• Japan H2 scrap increases to $363/t CFR Taiwan

Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to roll over its rebar list price and buying prices for local scrap for transactions over 29 September-2 October to monitor market developments, according to a company official.

The mini-mill held its weekly pricing meeting on Tuesday instead of Monday this week, due to the public holiday on 28 September for Teachers’ Day, Mysteel Global noted.

For business discussions through till this Friday, the Taiwanese mini-mill continues to offer its 13mm-diameter rebar at TWD 18,300/tonne (t) ($574/t) Exw, while its buying price for local HMS 80:20 scrap remains unchanged again at a three-month high of TWD 9,800/t ($308/t), the official confirmed.

Although prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan have strengthened recently, Feng Hsin still decided to hold its rebar list prices to monitor market changes after its price hike of TWD 200/t ($6/t) during the prior week, Mysteel Global noted.

As of 29 September, the price of US-origin HMS 80:20 scrap was at $348/t CFR Taiwan, up for the fifth consecutive week by $4/t on week and marking the highest since late June, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap was reported at S363/t CFR Taiwan, for an on-week rise of $5/t, according to a market source in Taiwan.

As for the steel market in the Chinese mainland, rebar prices have recovered slightly, as spot sales of construction steel improved, thanks to a spurt of end-user replenishment ahead of the National Day holiday over 1-7 October.

On 28 September, Mysteel assessed China’s national price of HRB400E 20mm rebar at RMB 3,320/t ($495/t) including the 13% VAT, inching up by RMB 4/t ($1/t) from one week ago.

Over 22-28 September, the combined daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese trading houses under Mysteel’s tracking averaged 98,789 t/day, higher by 2,644 t/d or 2.8% on week.