Sentiment in Taiwan’s import scrap market has been more positive this week. Market sources report that deep sea scrap prices are recovering, while Japanese scrap suppliers are still cautious. Taiwan’s domestic rebar market is also rebounding as end-users start to make purchases. A source at a Taiwanese producer said, “End-users realized we can increase domestic rebar prices next week as many indicators say so… the strike on the US East Coast, Taiwan’s limited number of containers and China’s bullish market.”
The leading Taiwanese producer Feng Hsin has kept its domestic rebar prices at TWD 17,500/mt ($545/mt) ex-works, while its dollar-based prices have decreased by $11/mt week on week amid the depreciation of the Taiwanese dollar against the US dollar.
Offers for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers have moved up by $2-10/mt over the past week to $312-325/mt CFR. A few deals were concluded by Taiwanese producers at $310/mt CFR earlier this week, $5/mt higher week on week. Typhoon Krathon hit Taiwan during the week and market sources reported that after a few days there were holidays in the country because of the typhoon.
Offers for Japanese H1/2 (50:50) scrap bulk were at around $315/mt CFR, down $5/mt on the upper end. But it is also reported that offers from Japan have almost disappeared from the market, with only a few of them heard this week.
Feng Hsin has cut its scrap purchase price by TWD 200/mt or $13/mt to TWD 9,700/mt ($302/mt) delivered. A nearby Taiwanese producer had a fire accident and could not receive any domestic scrap, while many EAF-based producers already have high scrap inventories. This contributed to the drop in scrap prices.
$1 = TWD 32.08