Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer, has decided to roll over its rebar list price and buying price for locally-sourced scrap over July 20-24 to monitor changes in the global scrap market, a company official confirmed on Monday.
Therefore, for business till this Friday, the mini-mill headquartered in Kaohsiung, in south Taiwan, continues to offer its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 14,600/tonne ($496/t) EXW, and its procurement price for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap stays at TWD 6,900/t, according to the official.
Feng Hsin’s rebar sales remained stable during last week, in line with the company’s expectations, mainly thanks to steady consumption among end-users and the firm global scrap prices. The mini-mill had cancelled the discounts it was offering on prices in actual transactions last week, Mysteel Global learned.
As of July 20, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap had gained another $5/t on week to reach $240/t CFR Taiwan, and that of Japanese H2 scrap kept stable at $250/t CFR Taiwan, the same level from one week earlier.
The moderate change in global scrap prices encouraged mini-mills in Taiwan to adopt a wait-and-see stance for the time being to monitor the change both in overseas scrap markets and the local steel market in the near term, Mysteel Global was told.
“Our rebar sales are likely to see an improvement this week if global scrap prices strengthen further,” Feng Hsin official said.
However, Taiwan’s steel market still faces some uncertainties in coming weeks, as scrap consumption usually declines in summer as the power supply rationalization scheme among local EAF mills over June-September cuts their production. Many mini-mills in Taiwan prefer to take the opportunity now to conduct annual maintenance on their rolling mills.
Feng Hsin’s overhaul will be carried out gradually from later this month till the end of August, with the company’s rebar output expected to see some decline during that period, Mysteel Global learned.
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel global and SteelMint research.
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