For the week ended December 23, SteelOrbis reported limited offers for HMS I/II 80:20 headed to Taiwan at $275-285/mt CFR. This price reflected an increase of $20/mt from $255-265/mt CFR offers reported by SteelOrbis on December 13.
According to market sources, a few quiet offers have been heard at $265-275/mt CFR Taiwan this week. Sources contend that the $10/mt decrease from last week is an effort to try to seal end of year sales by a few exporters, but note that West coast exporters have predominantly withdrawn from the market due to the holidays as well as awaiting more clear market information on market movements in early January.
The US domestic scrap market is expected to increase $10-30/mt, yet Taiwanese buyers are expressing an expectation for scrap prices to correct downward from short-sea sources as a result of what seems to be a Chinese slowdown. The most recent actual deals for US origin HMS I/II 80:20 were heard at $260/mt CFR Taiwan. For the last two weeks, Taiwan steelmakers have been heard sourcing scrap supplies primarily from their local market following three consecutive weekly domestic price increases implemented as a result of increasing import prices.