Posted on 06 Feb 2024
Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to further hold its rebar list prices and procurement prices of local scrap for business discussions over February 5-7, despite the decrease in global scrap prices, a company official confirmed on Monday.
It is a short working week in Taiwan because of the Chinese New Year holiday over February 9-14, Mysteel Global noted.
For transactions till this Wednesday, the mini-mill is offering its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 20,000/tonne ($637/t) EXW, the same level since late January, and it continues to pay TWD 11,400/t for the local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap this week, according to the official.
Prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan maintained the downtrend, with the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap slipping for the second week by another $2/t on week to $375/t CFR Taiwan as of February 5, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap also declined by $2/t from the prior week to reach $381/t CFR Taiwan, according to a local market source.
Taiwan's mini-mills are in no hurry to cut their rebar list prices for the moment, as the CNY holiday is around the corner and the market may turn quiet soon, Mysteel Global learned.
As for the steel market in mainland China, rebar prices weakened recently due to the significant fall in spot sales, as more building contractors halted operations to allow their workers go home earlier to celebrate the country's most important festival.
As of February 4, a working day in mainland China due to the CNY break over February 10-17, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment came in at Yuan 4,031/tonne ($560/t) including the 13% VAT, down by Yuan 18/t from that on January 29.
On Sunday, daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses under Mysteel's regular tracking slumped to 4,151 tonnes/day as against the 42,475 t/d on January 29, indicating a standstill in the physical market.
Source:Mysteel Global
