Taiwan: Feng Hsin raises rebar prices but keeps scrap purchase prices firm

• Pre-holiday construction activity supports rebar prices
• Taiwan’s prices of US HMS 80:20 increase $4/t w-o-w

Mysteel Global: Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer, headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to raise its rebar list price by TWD 300/tonne (t) ($9.5/t) for transactions over 2-6 February, while rolling over its buying price of local scrap to monitor market changes, according to a company official.

With the latest adjustment, the Taiwanese mini-mill is offering its 13 mm-diameter rebar at TWD 16,900/t ($536/t)  EXW for business discussions till this Friday, while its buying price for local HMS 80:20 scrap stays unchanged on week at TWD 8,600/t ($273/t), the official confirmed.

Prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan remained firm in the past week, lifting the production costs of local mini-mills and encouraging them to raise their rebar list prices accordingly, Mysteel Global noted.

As of 2 February, prices of US-sourced HMS 80:20 came in at $316/t CFR Taiwan, increasing by $4/t from one week before, while there was no quotation for Japan-origin H2 over the past week, according to a local market source in Taiwan.

Rebar demand in Taiwan has stayed relatively firm, as some downstream building contractors accelerate their construction pace ahead of the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday break.

On the contrary, rebar prices on the Chinese mainland continued to weaken recently, as demand from end-users contracted further, with some market players taking early holiday leave for the CNY that falls in mid-February, Mysteel Global learnt.

Mysteel’s assessment showed that as of 2 February, China’s national price of HRB400E 20mm rebar — an indicator of domestic steel market sentiment — stood at RMB 3,310/t ($477/t), including 13% VAT, down by RMB 13/t w-o-w.

Construction steel sales in the physical market slowed down continuously. Mysteel’s tracking showed the daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod, and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses throughout China averaged 61,543 t/day over 27 January-2 February, dropping by 19% from the prior week.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.