Posted on 09 Jan 2024
Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to roll over its rebar list prices and procurement prices for local scrap for transactions over January 8-12 to monitor market changes, a company official confirmed on Monday.
Consequently, for business discussions till this Friday, the mini-mill continues to offer its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 19,700/tonne ($635/t) EXW, the same level from the previous week, and its buying price for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap also stays unchanged on week at TWD 11,200/t, according to the official.
Local mini-mills in Taiwan are in no hurry to adjust their rebar list prices and procurement prices for local scrap, as global scrap prices delivered to Taiwan have not seen significant changes recently, Mysteel Global learned.
As of January 8, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap was reported at $375/t CFR Taiwan, taking a pause after the decrease over the prior two weeks, a local market source said, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap slipped by $5/t on week to reach $380/t CFR Taiwan during the same period.
Although construction contractors in Taiwan usually accelerate the pace of construction on projects before the Chinese New Year holidays – which this year will fall in early February – local steelmakers are not so confident about the steel prices in the near term given the uncertainty of spot sales.
Besides, during the past week major finished steel prices in mainland China kept stable overall, which also aggravated the wait-and-see sentiment in Taiwan's steel market, Mysteel Global noted.
For example, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of Chinese domestic steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 4,083/tonne ($571/t) including the 13% VAT as of January 5, higher by Yuan 9/t from one week earlier.
Source:Mysteel Global
