Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung, Central Taiwan, has decided to lift its rebar list price and procurement price of locally-sourced scrap by another TWD 300/tonne ($10.8/t) for business over September 22-24, given higher scrap prices in the global market, a company official confirmed on Wednesday.
With the latest adjustment, Feng Hsin’s list price for 13mm dia rebar reaches a seven-week high of TWD 23,100/t EXW after growing for two consecutive weeks, Mysteel Global notes. The mini-mill is also paying TWD 12,200/t for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap for the business till this Friday, up for the third week by a total of TWD 800/t and reaching a near four-month high, according to the official.
This week is a short working week in Taiwan as the island was closed over September 20-21 for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The firm’s latest price hike was mainly to reflect the higher scrap prices globally, the official told Mysteel Global.
As of September 22, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap was reported at $462/t CFR Taiwan, up for the second week by another $7/t on week, and that of Japan-origin H2 scrap posted a sharper on-week rise of $13/t to $493/t CFR Taiwan, a local market source said.
Though Taiwan entered the traditional peak season for steel consumption from this month and which will last till year’s end, demand from end-users was not as strong as the market had expected.
“If we decline to offer any discounts in actual trading discussions, they (end-users) are not active in buying,” the Feng Hsin official explained. He predicted that to attract buyers this week, the mini-mill will continue to concede a little of its margin based on the new list rebar prices.
Scrap prices in China have retreated recently due to the increased deliveries to mills and amid the softer demand, encouraging domestic steel mills to lower their procurement prices accordingly, Mysteel Global noted.
For example, Shagang Group, a leading electric-arc-furnace (EAF) mill in East China’s Jiangsu province, has trimmed its steel scrap procurement price by Yuan 70/tonne ($10.8/t) effective September 17, 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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