Taiwanese buyers state that they concluded most of their import scrap purchases in the first half of March, and so at the end of the month there was not much activity in the market. “We bought a lot of scrap when prices were rising rapidly so that we can prevent higher inventory costs, while the second half of March was slower in terms of scrap purchases,” an official at one Taiwanese mill commented. Amid the unwillingness of Taiwanese producers to conclude import scrap bookings, ex-US scrap suppliers have preferred to stay away once again this week. “This is the second week that almost no ex-US scrap offers have been received,” a source reported. The Taiwanese steel market is quiet as market players are monitoring recent developments. According to market sources, most Taiwanese steelmakers have enough scrap inventories on hand.
The SteelOrbis reference price for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in containers has remained at last week’s levels of $560-565/mt CFR, as seen in deals for ex-Australia and ex-Canada material.
Japanese H1/2 50:50 scrap by bulk has been offered to Taiwan at $600/mt, as compared to the wide range of $595-615/mt CFR recorded last week. “Japanese scrap is almost stable too, since we are not willing to buy H1/2 scrap in large tonnages for now,” one market player commented.
Despite the sideways movement of Japanese benchmark grade prices, shindachi prices for Taiwan are still moving up. The shindachi scrap offers are now at $665/mt CFR Taiwan. On March 18, SteelOrbis reported that deals were done at $650/mt CFR Taiwan for this grade. “I think the increases in shindachi scrap prices are the result of the demand coming from South Korean mills. They need scrap and they are increasing their quotations, while others are just keeping them stable,” the representative of a Taiwanese mill commented.
Domestic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in Taiwan have moved sideways at TWD 14,800/mt ($516/mt) ex-works. In the same period, official domestic rebar prices in Taiwan have remained stable at TWD 24,300/mt ($847/mt) ex-works. “When finished steel prices were rising, people bought a lot of tonnages as they wanted to get ahead of the rising tide. But now, with the international scrap market indicating a stable trend, demand is slower,” a source commented.
$1 = TWD 28.67