Over the past week, Taiwan’s import scrap market has remained stable once again. Market sources report that US scrap prices are tending to move up further, while Japanese suppliers are evaluating the situation as their local currency is losing strength. Domestic rebar sales in Taiwan this week have been slow, while sources report that the change in the government’s stance on property taxes is having a negative impact. The leading Taiwanese producer Feng Hsin has kept its domestic rebar prices stable over the past week at TWD 17,600/mt ($536/mt) ex-works, with dollar-based quotations moving down by $1/mt, taking into account exchange rate changes.
Offers for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers to Taiwan have remained mostly at $315/mt CFR. Despite the stability in offers, actual deal prices have increased slightly to $313-315/mt this week, moving up by $3-5/mt week on week. Also, a further increase is expected in March for ex-US scrap, market sources report.
Offers shared for Japanese H1/2 (50:50) scrap bulk have almost disappeared this week. Market sources report that the depreciation of the Japanese yen is the main reason for this, with the yen losing strength from 149.28 to 150.34 this week against the dollar, breaking through a psychological threshold. No bulk deals have been done from Japan this week. Late last week, offers for this grade were at $320-325/mt CFR, with deals at $320/mt CFR.
Feng Hsin has kept its scrap procurement prices stable at TWD 9,800/mt ($298/mt) delivered, down $1/mt on dollar basis. The stability of the import scrap segment is helping the local market.
$1 = TWD 32.86