Similar to the international scrap market, the ongoing war in the Middle East is also impacting Taiwan’s import scrap market. While increases in sea freight are causing higher costs for all parties, the number of offers shared with Taiwan remains limited. Major Taiwanese producer Feng Hsin has raised its domestic rebar prices by TWD 300/mt week on week to TWD 16,600/mt ($522/mt) ex-works, with its dollar-based prices increasing by $3/mt taking the exchange rate into account. “Feng Hsin only sold 10,000 mt this week due to the limited import scrap availability in the market,” a source told SteelOrbis. Southern Taiwanese mills were also unwilling to sell as local scrap generation was low and some mills ran out of scrap stocks, sources reported.
Offer prices for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers to Taiwan have increased over the past week from $323/mt CFR to $328/mt CFR. Sources report that there are still very few offers. “Most offers were suspended due to freight issues resulting from the war in the Middle East,” a source at a major Taiwanese mill commented. Actual prices in ex-US deals have moved up from $321/mt CFR to $325/mt CFR.
This week, Japanese H1/2 (50:50) offers were in the range of $340-345/mt CFR Taiwan, moving up by $3/mt on the upper end. The lowest workable levels are considered to be at $340/mt CFR, according to buyers.
Feng Hsin has kept its scrap procurement prices stable this week at TWD 9,400/mt ($296/mt) delivered, down by $4/mt on US dollar basis. Prices in the local Taiwanese scrap market are expected to be adjusted next week.
$1 = TWD 31.79
