Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer, has decided to hold its rebar list prices and local scrap procurement prices for transactions over July 8-11 to monitor any market changes, a company official confirmed.
The Taiwanese mini-mill rescheduled its weekly pricing meeting to Tuesday morning instead of the usual Monday, mainly due to school closures and work suspensions on Monday following the arrival of Typhoon Danas, which made landfall in Southwest Taiwan late Sunday night, Mysteel Global was told.
For business discussions till this Friday, Feng Hsin continues to offer its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 16,400/tonne ($565/t) EXW, unchanged from the previous week, while its buying price of local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap stays at TWD 8,000/t, according to the official.
Prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan diverged over the past week, with the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap still standing at $295/t CFR Taiwan, the same level for three weeks, while the price of Japan-origin H2 scrap was reported at $305/t CFR Taiwan, lower for the fourth straight week by another $6/t on week, according to a local market source.
For now, mini-mills in Taiwan are marking time on the market sidelines after noting the divergence in global scrap prices. Meanwhile, rebar prices in the Chinese mainland showed signs of weakening on Monday after the recovery last week, aggravating the wait-and-see sentiment in Taiwan's steel market, Mysteel Global noted.
As of July 7, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,245/tonne ($452/t) including the 13% VAT, still higher by Yuan 34/t on week though it had retreated by Yuan 18/t compared with the recent high on July 4.
Source:Mysteel Global
