A number of offers for imported scrap to Taiwan has been extremely limited by the end of this week, as from Wednesday-Thursday many US-based suppliers have started to withdraw offers to Taiwan, seeing further hike in Turkey. Japanese exporters are also bullish.
Early this week deals for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 in containers have been done at $270-273/mt CFR, just slightly up from $270/mt CFR late last week. Starting from Wednesday, suppliers have started to withdraw offers, as prices in Turkey have hit $300/mt CFR. “Offers from the US have almost gone this week,” one of the steel mills in the country said. “This week prices [from the US] increased slightly by $2-3/mt to $272-273/mt CFR maximum, next week they will increase more,” another buyer said. Prices for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 in containers are expected to reach $275-280/mt CFR next week.
Offers for Japanese H1/2 50:50 by bulk have returned to $295/mt CFR Taiwan from deals at $285-286/mt CFR reported last week. There have been no reports about deals from Japan this week as prices are too high. Moreover, in general there have been very few offers from Japan to Taiwan as well. Sources said that Japanese suppliers are bullish and they may try to get $300/mt CFR in the near future.