Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer, has decided to raise its rebar list prices and local scrap buying price each by another TWD 300/tonne ($10.6/t) for transactions over December 7-11 to reflect strong prices in the global scrap market, a company official confirmed on Tuesday.
With the latest adjustment, the mini-mill headquartered in Kaohsiung, south Taiwan, is offering its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 16,700/t EXW for sales till this Friday, the highest the price has been since mid-August 2019. At the same time for locally-sourced scrap, the latest price hike takes the mill’s buying price for HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap to a near 18-month high of TWD 8,700/t, according to the official.
Feng Hsin’s rise in rebar and scrap buying prices is its third consecutive weekly increase and takes the total increment to TWD 800/t for both. The Kaohsiung maker cited the steadily strengthening scrap prices in the global market for its decision.
As of December 7, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap had climbed for the eighth straight week to a 25-month high of $330/t CFR Taiwan, gaining another $13/t from one week before, while that for Japan-origin H2 scrap witnessed a sharper on-week rise of $24/t on week to $361/t CFR Taiwan, according to a local market source.
Although rebar prices in Taiwan have increased to a high level on support of the rapid rise in raw materials costs, steel users have had to accept the high prices when replenishing their stocks of long products to meet their immediate demand, Feng Hsin’s official disclosed. “But they are unwilling to stock up in large quantities at such a high price,” he added.
Traditionally, fourth quarter is the peak season for steel consumption in Taiwan as many local construction contractors are trying to complete their projects by year’s end or before the Chinese New Year, and both steel production and demand are expected to remain high in the near term, Mysteel Global noted.
Written by Nancy Zheng, zhengmm@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint Research.
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