With Taiwan’s three-month summer electricity supply cuts starting from June, factories will only be operating during night shifts. As a result, demand for domestic rebar and domestic or import scrap is low. According to a Taiwanese source, “There was no deal for rebar at all this week due to the expectations of a bear market. Next Monday [June 5], we expect a huge price drop for rebar.” Meanwhile, local scrap prices have indicated a gradual decline this week.
Early in the current week, offers for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in containers to Taiwan were at $365-370/mt CFR, declining from the range of $370-375/mt CFR late last week. But today, June 2, SteelOrbis has learned that offers declined further to $365/mt CFR, with deals done below $360/mt CFR and expectations moving down to $355/mt CFR for the short term.
Japanese scrap suppliers’ offers for Japanese H1/2 50:50 scrap by bulk to Taiwan were at $370-380/mt CFR early this week, decreasing from $375-380/mt CFR week on week. Today, offers are below $375/mt CFR, but there are no bids from Taiwanese buyers. The workable levels for this grade are estimated to be at around $370/mt CFR.
Domestic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in Taiwan have declined sharply by TWD 600/mt ($18/mt) over the past week to TWD 10,900/mt ($356/mt) delivered to mill. The official domestic rebar prices in Taiwan are still at TWD 18,800/mt ($613/mt) ex-works, up $2/mt in dollar-based quotations due to exchange rate changes.
$1 = TWD 30.65