Taiwan’s import scrap market has softened over the past week. According to sources, the declines observed for Japanese scrap were caused by the absence of Vietnam, South Korea and other Asian countries. Meanwhile, there were some domestic rebar sales in southern Taiwan where producers’ rebar quotations are lower than in the rest of the country. “The region was silent for three weeks and market players needed stock replenishment,” a source at a Taiwanese producer said. Feng Hsin has kept its local rebar prices stable week on week in the local currency at TWD 19,100/mt ($596/mt) ex-works, down by $3/mt on US dollar basis amid exchange rate fluctuations.
Over the past week, offers for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers to Taiwan have remained stable at $375-380/mt CFR. Market players report that a deal may be closed at around $370/mt CFR, so workable levels have also softened, moving down by $2/mt on the upper end week on week.
At the same time, Japanese scrap suppliers have cut their offers for H1/2 (50:50) scrap by bulk to Taiwan to $375-388/mt CFR, down from $383-390/mt CFR recorded last week. There was a deal done by a major Taiwanese steelmaker this week at $375/mt CFR for this grade, $8/mt lower than the booking done last week.
Domestic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in Taiwan have moved sideways over the past week at TWD 11,900/mt ($371/mt) delivered to mill. Due to the depreciation of the Taiwanese dollar, dollar-based prices have decreased by $2/mt.
$1 = TWD 32.06