Taiwan’s import scrap market has continued its gradual decline this week with Japanese suppliers staying out of the market. Taiwanese mills are in no rush to buy scrap since their rebar sales are sluggish. Major Taiwanese producer Feng Hsin has decreased its domestic rebar prices by TWD 200/mt this week to TWD 17,800/mt ($563/mt) ex-works, with its dollar-based price decreasing by $6/mt taking the exchange rate into account. “The market is still silent due to poor demand, while rainfall impacted Taiwan throughout the week,” a source added. Chinese 5SP grade billet prices are now at $495/mt CFR Taiwan, sources report, adding that Russian suppliers have shared no offers with buyers after selling 20,000 mt of billets to southern Taiwanese mills at $496/mt CFR last week.
Offer prices for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers to Taiwan have moved down to the range of $353-357/mt CFR from the $358-361/mt CFR levels recorded last week. Actual prices in ex-US deals have moved down by $5/mt week on week to $350/mt CFR. However, SteelOrbis observes that most suppliers are now resisting deals at $350/mt CFR and below, instead retracting their offers from the Taiwanese scrap market. As a result, the number of ex-US offers in Taiwan is on the low side at the end of the week.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, containerized ferrous scrap prices on the US West Coast have continued to drop this week. As import prices into Asia and containerized ocean freight rates remain high, exporters continue to protect their margins. In Los Angeles, the price of HMS I/II 80:20 fell by $5/mt to $335/mt FAS Long Beach port, containerized P&S 5ft decreased by the same amount to $350-355/mt FAS, and containerized shredded also fell by the same margin to $355-360/mt FAS.
Following the Kanto tender, Japanese suppliers have remained out of the market, sharing no offers with Taiwan this week. The initial expectations of a significant fall in the Kanto scrap export tender was not realized. After a ten-month upward rally, Japan’s Kanto scrap export tender recorded its first price decline in the June tender, but the decrease was a small one. The relatively sideways movement in the Kanto tender gave hope to Japanese scrap suppliers, who have decided to wait until next week to return with export offers.
Feng Hsin has decreased its scrap procurement prices by TWD 200/mt over the past week to TWD 10,500/mt ($332/mt) delivered, down by $9/mt on US dollar basis. The depreciation of the Taiwan dollar has increased the fall in the dollar price, while the softening of import scrap prices is supporting the price cuts observed in the local scrap market.
$1 = TWD 31.65
