Taiwan’s import scrap market has reached equilibrium. Market players in Taiwan report that there are few offers, while at the same time buyers are not seeking to purchase much import or domestic scrap for now. A source at a major Taiwanese steel mill commented, “Low volumes of scrap supply are offset by weak finished steel sales in summer and the electricity outage period that is approaching.” On the other hand, last week the rebar market in Taiwan was somewhat lively and market players had thought that prices in the local Taiwanese rebar market were close to or at the bottom and were ready to buy. According to market sources, local transactions were done in the range of TWD 18,000-18,600/mt ($587-606/mt) ex-works.
At the end of last week, offers for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in containers to Taiwan were at $370/mt CFR, $15/mt higher than the deals closed a week earlier. According to market sources, the workable levels for deals were at around $365/mt CFR, again $10/mt higher than the previous transactions.
While Japanese scrap suppliers were out of the market for most of last week, their targeted levels for Japanese H1/2 50:50 scrap in bulk to Taiwan were at $380/mt CFR, $5-10/mt higher week on week.
Domestic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in Taiwan have remained stable at TWD 11,500/mt ($375/mt) delivered to mill, with a $1/mt increase observed in the dollar price due to exchange rate fluctuations. A major producer has shared bids for domestic busheling scrap at TWD 12,200/mt ($398/mt) delivered to mill today, May 22. The official domestic rebar prices in Taiwan are still at TWD 18,800/mt ($613/mt) ex-works, with a $2/mt increase seen in dollar-based quotations due to exchange rate changes.
$1 = TWD 30.68