- Mini mills cautious amid mixed global scrap trends
- US scrap slips while Japan H2 prices rise slightly
Mysteel Global: Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer, has decided to hold its rebar list prices and local scrap procurement prices again for transactions over 22-26 September to wait and see clear market directions after noting the divergence in global scrap prices delivered to the island, according to a company official.
For business discussions till this Friday, the Taiwanese mini-mill keeps its offering price of 13mm dia rebar at TWD 16,700/tonne (t) ($553/t) exw, the same level as one week before, and it continues to pay TWD 7,800/t ($256/t) for local HMS 80:20 scrap for the third consecutive week, the official confirmed.
As prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan showed mixed trends, local mini-mills would like to roll over their rebar list prices and keep procurement prices of local scrap steady to better gauge market changes in the near future, Mysteel Global learned.
As of 22 September, the price of US-sourced HMS 80:20 scrap was reported at $300/t CFR Taiwan, slipping for the fourth consecutive week by $3/t on week, while that of Japan-origin H2 scrap came in at $313/t CFR Taiwan, posting an on-week rise of $3/t, a local market source said.
Market participants in Taiwan are not so optimistic about rebar prices in the near term, as the property market remains weak overall, Mysteel Global was told.
In the Chinese mainland, finished steel prices have strengthened recently on broad market expectations for pre-holiday replenishment – ahead of the country’s eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday starting 1 October – although the actual demand from end-users is not as strong as expected during the traditional peak season for steel consumption in September, Mysteel Global noted.
On 22 September, China’s national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of the country’s domestic steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at RMB 3,323/t ($467/t) including the 13% VAT, up by RMB 38/t ($5/t) from one week earlier.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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