Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung, Central Taiwan, has decided to trim its buying price for locally-sourced scrap by TWD 300/tonne ($10.7/t) over July 26-30 in response to weaker global scrap prices, though it will remain the rebar list price unchanged on week due to limited supply in summer, a company official confirmed.
For the business till this Friday, Feng Hsin’s buying price for locally-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap, thus, has been trimmed to TWD 11,600/t after having the price stay at TWD 11,900/t for three weeks, and its list price of the 13mm dia rebar has been set at TWD 23,200/t EXW since July 5, according to the official.
Feng Hsin’s scrap buying price decrease is to reflect the softening in global scrap prices, just as always, to make sure its procurement price has always been relevant and competitive, Mysteel Global noted.
As of July 26, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 declined further to $450/t CFR Taiwan, or down for the second week by another $10/t on week, and that of Japan-origin H2 scrap had been easing since late June to $477/t CFR Taiwan, though signs of stability have emerged, as the on-week decline was at only $1/t, local market sources noted.
In summer, Japan’s scrap collection and generation usually goes into a low season, while its domestic demand will ease too due to the mini-mills’ shutdowns by one or two weeks around July-August, and its scrap exporters have shown little urgency in concluding new deals, as reported.
Similarly, scrap consumption among Taiwan’s local mini-mills also reduces moderately over June-September, as they have to reduce power consumption during the few months on the request of the local authorities to prioritize power supplies to the local households, Mysteel Global understands.
Taiwan’s steel prices, as a result, usually hold firm, as many mini-mills including Feng Hsin will see their finished steel output drop over June-September, as they will schedule their annual maintenance on steelmaking facilities around the time.
“Rebar supply stays tight with the power restriction, and it encourages local steel mills to hold onto their offering prices for a while unless fundamentals show visible changes,” an official from a second Taiwanese steel mill commented.
Taiwan’s long steel consumption by the end-users was lackluster last week due to the torrential rainfalls brought by the Typhoon In-Fa, which has moved to East China, landing Zhejiang on Sunday with downpours firstly in Zhejiang and then upwards in Shanghai and Jiangsu, 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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