Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to further raise its rebar list prices and procurement prices for local scrap for the fourth straight week by another TWD 300-400/tonne ($9.8-13/t) on week for business discussions over September 5-9, a company official confirmed on Tuesday. The steelmaker’s move was prompted by the steady climb in scrap prices globally, he said.
With the latest adjustment, the mini-mill is offering its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 20,900/t EXW for local sales till this Friday, up another TWD 300/t from the prior week, while its buying price for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap reaches TWD 10,900/t, representing a sharper rise of TWD 400/t on week, according to the official.
Feng Hsin’s decision was mainly to reflect the continuous increase in its production costs, as prices for imported scrap have strengthened further, Mysteel Global was told.
As of September 5, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap was at $385/t CFR Taiwan, jumping by another $10/t from one week before, while that of Japan-origin H2 scrap continued to grow at the faster pace of $20/t on week to $415/t CFR Taiwan, according to a local market source.
“The on-week rise in rebar list prices is smaller this week due to local end-users’ waning enthusiasm for purchasing with the continuous growth in prices,” the official told Mysteel Global.
Chinese rebar prices in the physical market remain weak with the depressed demand from end-users. As of September 5, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 4,111/tonne ($592/t) including the 13% VAT, losing Yuan 98/t on week.
Major steel producers also lowered their rebar list prices accordingly to reflect the poor demand. For example, Shagang Group, China’s largest privately-owned steel producer headquartered in East China’s Jiangsu province, had trimmed its rebar list price by Yuan 100/t for domestic sales over September 1-10, as reported.
Written by Nancy Zheng, zhengmm@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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