Amid electricity supply cuts due to hot summer conditions, scrap demand in Taiwan is lower compared to last week. The domestic rebar market is also silent this week. “The market has lost confidence because of the weakened scrap prices, while finished steel sales are sluggish” a Taiwanese mill said. According to sources, Feng Hsin cut its local rebar price by TWD 200/mt on Monday to TWD 18,700/mt ($602/mt) ex-works. SteelOrbis has also learned that Feng Hsin is not carrying out furnace maintenance works.
Offers for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers to Taiwan were at $365/mt CFR earlier this week, in line with last week’s prices at $360-370/mt CFR. Deals have been done at $355-360/mt CFR versus $360/mt CFR last week. However, at the end of the current week there are no ex-US offers. “They have mainly disappeared,” a source said.
At the same time, Japanese scrap suppliers have increased their offers for H1/2 (50:50) scrap by bulk to Taiwan from $375-385/mt CFR to $378-395/mt CFR.
Domestic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in Taiwan are still at TWD 11,500/mt ($370/mt) delivered to mill.