Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to lower its rebar list prices and buying prices for local scrap by TWD 200-300/tonne ($6.5-9.8/t) for business discussions over March 20-24, given the retreat in global scrap prices and the weaker sentiment in the local steel market, a company official confirmed on Monday.
With the latest adjustment, the mini-mill is offering its 13mm dia rebar priced at TWD 21,300/t EXW for sales till this Friday, lower by TWD 200/t from the prior week. At the same timer, Feng Hsin’s procurement price for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap reaches TWD 12,400/t, down by a sharper TWD 300/t on-week, according to the official.
One major reason for Feng Hsin’s price cuts was the retreat in prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan last week, Mysteel Global was told.
As of March 20, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 material was reported at $430/t CFR Taiwan, down $5/t on week after the continuous rise over the prior three weeks. In parallel, the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap came in at $435/t CFR Taiwan, also lower by $5/t from last week’s nine-month high, according to a local market source.
Sentiment in Taiwan’s steel market softened with the decrease in global scrap prices, and local end-users also slowed their pace of placing new rebar orders, Mysteel Global learned.
Besides, the banking problems in the U.S. and Europe have shaken the confidence of Taiwan’s steel market, and “many local market participants are standing on the sidelines and monitoring market movements this week,” the company official explained.
Steel market circumstances in mainland China were similar last week, with the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment under Mysteel’s assessment, softening in the second half week to reach Yuan 4,364/tonne ($634/t) including the 13% VAT as of March 17, down Yuan 23/t from one week before or falling by Yuan 52/t from the recent high on March 14.
Written by Nancy Zheng, zhengmm@mysteel.com
Edited by Zhenqi Yang, yangzhenqi@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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