The sharp rise in international scrap market has impacted Taiwan’s import scrap quotations. Both ex-US and ex-Japan offer scrap prices to this destination have moved up over the past week. While some of the offers have turned into deals, the prices - particularly coming out of Japan - shared at the end of the week were not considered acceptable by buyers. “We thought that the price had some potential to reach a peak but, amid the recent rises, we are not sure anymore,” a Taiwanese source reported.
Deals for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in containers to Taiwan were in the range of $385-388/mt CFR early this week, but have increased to $392-395/mt CFR by the end of the week. Last week, deals for this grade were concluded at $380-385/mt CFR. “Prices are increasing each day due to the positive movement in the international scrap market,” a Taiwanese source commented. Also, SteelOrbis observes that ex-US offers to Taiwan are limited.
Moreover, deals for Japanese H1/2 50:50 scrap by bulk to Taiwan were closed slightly below $410/mt CFR in the current week, increasing by $10/mt week on week. However, offer prices from Japan to Taiwan are rising. Earlier this week, this grade was offered at $420/mt CFR, which was found to be reasonable by Taiwanese sources. But today, there are some offers at around $450s/mt CFR, which has been interpreted as being “crazy.” A source from a Taiwanese producer stated, “No one would buy at this level, though I think there is some room to move up from the $410s/mt CFR.” A Japanese source commented, “Perhaps their logic is to increase their prices due to Tokyo Steel’s quotations, in addition to the rising trend observed recently in the international scrap market. In particular, heavy scrap is in short supply in Japan.”
Over the past week, domestic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in Taiwan have increased by TWD 300/mt ($10/mt) to TWD 11,300/mt ($368/mt) ex-works. The official domestic rebar prices in Taiwan have also moved up, by TWD 200/mt ($7/mt) to TWD 19,700/mt ($641/mt) ex-works.
$1 = TWD 30.74