Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer, has decided to lower its rebar list prices and buying price for locally sourced scrap over September 28-30 after holding them steady for just one week, a company official confirmed on Tuesday.
This will be a short working week in Taiwan as the island will be closed over October 1-4 to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mysteel Global was told.
For the business till this Wednesday, the mini-mill headquartered in Kaohsiung in south Taiwan is offering its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 15,300/tonne ($527/t) EXW, down TWD 400/t on week, according to the official. The mill’s procurement price for locally-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap is lower at TWD 7,300/t, down by another TWD 300/t after the previous cut last Thursday, and takes the on-week decline to a total of TWD 600/t.
The mini-mill’s cuts to its product and procurement prices were mainly driven by the continuous fall in global scrap prices, Mysteel Global learned. Overseas buyers would like to sit on the fence and wait for a further decrease, sources explained, as global scrap prices have reached a very high level after the sustained rally over the prior two months compared with the relatively low finished steel prices.
As of September 28, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap in Taiwan had slipped for the second consecutive week to $278/t CFR Taiwan, losing another $2/t on week, while the price of Japanese H2 scrap saw a larger decrease of $15/t on week to $280/t CFR Taiwan.
The decline in Feng Hsin’s buying price for locally sourced scrap is higher than those in the global scrap market, indicating that the company is in no hurry to replenish this steelmaking raw material. The official disclosed that one of its rebar mills is undergoing annual maintenance till mid-October.
Scrap prices in China also saw a persistent decline under the pressure of softening steel prices, which encouraged major domestic steel producers to lower their scrap buying prices accordingly, to manage their production costs.
For example, China’s largest electric-arc-furnace mill, Shagang Group, trimmed its steel scarp procurement price by another Yuan 50/tonne ($4.3/t) effective September 25, taking the total price cut to Yuan 160/t since mid-September, as Mysteel Global reported.
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint Research.
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