The uptrend of import scrap prices for Taiwan has more or less come to a halt this week. At first suppliers tried to increase their prices to Taiwan, but with the typhoon disaster seen in South Korea, the price levels offered to Taiwan have softened. Also, SteelOrbis understands that the allocation offered to Taiwan from the US and Japan has increased. “Suddenly, the US was here offering maybe double in terms of volumes,” an official at a Taiwanese mill reported. sentiment in Taiwan’s scrap market has changed this week, with the uptrend of prices expected to give way to a downward revision. It was already known that finished steel prices in Taiwan were not increasing as fast as scrap prices, and so an equilibrium may be achieved with scrap prices seeing some correction.
Over the current week, ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in containers to Taiwan have moved in the wide range of $380-390/mt CFR as compared to $375-380/mt CFR recorded last week. While $390/mt CFR was the highest level observed this week, currently offers for this grade are at $380-385/mt CFR. “Following the floods in South Korea, Korean mills are out of the market. Hence, we expect prices to move down in the coming week,” a source at a major Taiwanese mill commented.
Prices for Japanese H1/2 50:50 scrap by bulk to Taiwan opened the week at $410-420/mt CFR, down $10/mt from $420/mt CFR last week. However, they have also failed to maintain their levels and moved down to $395s/mt CFR by the end of the week. Currently, Taiwanese mills believe that $390/mt CFR would be accepted by the sellers. Market players expect Japanese scrap prices to decline in the coming week, as South Korea is not expected to return to the market quickly. “They [South Korean producers] had already bought a lot of scrap, but now with the flood their operations were forced to stop,” a source reported.
Domestic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in Taiwan have increased by TWD 400/mt or $9/mt to TWD 10,700/mt ($346/mt) ex-works. The official domestic rebar prices in Taiwan also increased by TWD 300/mt or $3/mt week on week to TWD 20,300/mt ($657/mt) ex-works. Exchange rate fluctuations are taken into consideration when calculating the dollar-based price changes.
$1 = TWD 30.91