Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung, Central Taiwan, has decided to hold its rebar list price and its procurement price for locally sourced scrap over the February 17-21 week, a company official confirmed on Tuesday. For now, the mini mill is marking time with its price policy after noting that scrap prices in the global market are stable.
Thus, Feng Hsin is continuing to offer its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 14,800/tonne ($492/t) for sales over this week and is paying TWD 6,500/t for locally sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap during the same period, according to the official.
“Our rebar sales performed well last week,” Feng Hsin’s official told Mysteel Global. “Our price really declined to a very low level which encouraged many building contractors to seize the opportunity to stock some products,” he explained.
The mini mill’s rebar list price started to fall steadily since the middle of last month following the slide of global scrap prices, with the total decline over the past month reaching TWD 1,300/t. On the other hand, Feng Hsin’s purchasing price for locally sourced scrap saw a larger decrease of TWD 1,400/t over that period, Mysteel Global notes.
In parallel, steel scrap prices in the global market took a breath last week after sliding consecutively over the prior five weeks where the total decline exceeded $40/t. The price-fall hiatus also encouraged local steel mills in Taiwan to hold their current rebar sales prices and wait and watch for any market change in the coming term.
As of February 17, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap, a key reference for Taiwan’s scrap and rebar markets, stayed at its four-month low of $225/t CFR Taiwan, the same level from one week before, while that for Japan-origin H2 scrap also remained unchanged at $230/t CFR Taiwan, market sources in Taiwan disclosed.
Last week’s better performance in trading activity indicated that demand from downstream users does exist, Mysteel notes. Steel consumers in Taiwan have resumed normal operations gradually after the Chinese New Year holiday, and as yet, the island has not been significantly affected by the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia outbreak.
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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