The mood in the import scrap market in Taiwan has improved this week, due to better sales of rebar in the domestic market and slow scrap flow in both local and import markets. “There were good-quantity deals for rebar from all local mills this week as scrap prices [in the local market in particular] are picking up,” a Taiwanese steel mill said. According to sources, Feng Hsin cut local rebar price by TWD 600/mt ($19.5/mt) on Monday, to TWD 18,200/mt ($592/mt) ex-works, which has also stimulated sales.
Though there has been no increase in ex-US scrap quotations in Taiwan so far and the last deals were still at $355-360/mt CFR for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) in containers during this week, some slight improvement is not excluded in the near future. “US scrap sellers are reluctant to offer as the Taiwanese buying price is too low,” a source said.
At the same time, Japanese scrap suppliers have increased their offers for H1/2 (50:50) scrap by bulk to Taiwan from $370-380/mt CFR to $390/mt CFR. If the current mood persists in the market, it is expected that US HMS I/II (80:20) container prices will go up to $370-375/mt CFR.
