Rising global scrap prices have led Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, to decide on a further hike in its rebar list prices for business discussions over March 6-10, a company official confirmed on Monday.
With the latest adjustment, the mini-mill is offering its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 21,100/tonne ($690/t) EXW for sales till this Friday, up for the second week by another TWD 300/t on week, while its buying prices for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap have been raised accordingly by the same TWD 300/t on week to TWD 12,300/t for transactions over March 7-10, according to the official.
The continuous rally in the prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan was one major reason for Feng Hsin’s price hike this week, Mysteel Global was told.
As of March 6, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 material was reported at an eight-month high of $425/t CFR Taiwan, up another $10/t from the prior week, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap came in at $440/t CFR Taiwan, gaining another $5/t on week and taking the price to a new high since late June 2022, according to a local market source.
The strength of scrap prices has lifted the production costs of Taiwan’s local mini-mills and encouraged them to raise their rebar list prices further. Meanwhile, on the demand side, the pleasant weather in early spring during the traditional peak season for steel consumption has helped rebar sales perform better, which in turn supported the further rise in rebar prices, Mysteel Global noted.
Rebar prices in mainland China also firmed over the past week thanks to the further recovery in demand from end-users, with the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment under Mysteel’s assessment, reaching Yuan 4,347/tonne ($628/t) including the 13% VAT as of March 3, up Yuan 12/t on week.
Over February 27-March 3, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese trading houses under Mysteel’s regular survey averaged 174,152 tonnes/day, higher by 9,532 t/d compared with the prior week.
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.
Leave a Reply