During the past week, Taiwanese buyers have also been impacted by the increases observed in the international scrap market. Their main buying focus is still on ex-US cargoes, because ex-Japan scrap has been still too expensive for importers.
In the current week, the highest prices fixed in deals for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in containers to Taiwan were at $475-480/mt CFR, up by $12-17/mt against the $463/mt CFR recorded last week. Current ex-US scrap offers are in the range of $480-485/mt CFR. Having said that, market players added that they received offers and concluded deals in the first half of the week, and that today there are no offers from the US. A SteelOrbis source stated that the low number of offers from the US is the result of disruptions at US ports because of the traffic jam as well as the lack of containers. “US origin HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices are expected to increase further in the coming week,” the source stated.
Meanwhile, offers from Japanese sellers to Taiwan for H1/2 50:50 scrap by bulk have moved up on the lower end week on week from $530-550/mt CFR to $540-550/mt CFR. One market player stated that these levels are “too expensive. The Kanto tender has strengthened prices and no one in Taiwan would accept them under the current circumstances.” Japanese offers have been on the unworkable side for Taiwanese buyers for a long time now.
Meanwhile, as observed in other regions, Taiwanese buyers are also increasing their domestic scrap purchase prices to secure tonnages against the rising trend of import scrap quotations. SteelOrbis has learned that domestic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in Taiwan is at TWD 12,400/mt ($443/mt), up TWD 200/mt ($7.14/mt) week on week.
Over the past week, domestic rebar quotations have remained stable in Taiwan and are still standing at TWD 22,500/mt ($804/mt) ex-works. One Taiwanese producer reported that they have had to limit their domestic rebar sales this week. “Due to the rises in scrap quotations which resulted in expectations of a price increase in the local rebar market next week, buyers were trying to buy a lot of rebar, too much and too quickly,” the source stated.
$1 = TWD 28.00