Taiwan’s import scrap market has continued to move down over the past week, though the domestic market has held its ground. Market sources say they believe import scrap quotations, especially from the US, may have hit the bottom since the winter holiday season in the US is approaching. Meanwhile, Taiwanese producers’ rebar sales are “frozen” this week. “There is no particular reason that we can see but rebar buyers are asking for lower prices,” a source at a major Taiwanese producer commented. The leading Taiwanese rebar producer Feng Hsin has kept its domestic rebar prices stable at TWD 17,800/mt ($548/mt) ex-works, with its dollar-based prices increasing by $2/mt, week on week, taking into account changes in the exchange rate. However, buyers are asking for lower levels at around TWD 17,000-17,300/mt ($523-532/mt) ex-works, which have not been accepted by the Taiwanese producers, who think these levels are unprofitable. To begin with, Taiwan’s steel market has been underperforming for a while, with rebar not being in demand. Therefore, Taiwanese producers’ inventory levels, from finished steel to scrap and billets, are on the high side. “Taiwan’s real estate industry was booming, but housing costs have increased rapidly. The young generation cannot afford housing. The new Taiwanese government [which entered office on May 2024] announced lower loan rates for them to get loans from banks. Nevertheless, high costs are restricting the construction segment,” a Taiwanese source reported.
This week, offers for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers have continued to drop unabated, declining by $8-15/mt to $302-313/mt CFR. Some Taiwanese producers have concluded bookings for this grade at $300-303/mt CFR this week, $2-5/mt lower week on week.
During the past week, the offer range for Japanese H1/2 (50:50) scrap bulk has moved down from last week’s $320-328/mt CFR range to $316-323/mt CFR. This week, no ex-Japan scrap bookings have been concluded by Taiwanese mills once again amid the ongoing congestion of ships at ports and also due to the high scrap and steel inventories in Taiwanese buyers’ yards.
Feng Hsin has kept its scrap procurement prices at TWD 9,600/mt ($295/mt) delivered, up by $1/mt on US dollar basis amid the changes observed in the exchange rate. Sources say they believe local scrap prices have remained stable because of the belief that ex-US scrap prices may be touching bottom levels.
$1 = TWD 32.51