Taiwan
Taiwanese mills resorted to buying limited volumes amid rising offers on Monday. The Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Monday, rose by $3/mt from Friday to $317/mt cfr Taiwan. A few deals were also at $318/mt cfr Taiwan. Feng Hsin raised finished steel and domestic ferrous scrap prices by TWD200/mt ($7/mt) from the prior week. After the revision, Feng Hsin’s base offers for rebar were at TWD15,700-16,000/mt ex- works South and North Taiwan. The mill is likely to increase offers for finished steel further to offset higher input costs.
The Davis Index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) in Turkey rose by $15/mt on Friday from Nov 23, lifting global ferrous scrap prices levels which remain unviable for mills in Taiwan.
Japan
Tokyo Steel announced a sixth price hike since Nov 14 and seventh in a month with the latest bid levels effective Dec 1. After revision, purchase prices increased by JPY500/mt ($5) for deliveries to all of Tokyo’s works. Revised bids for #2 HMS were at JPY32,000/mt del Okayama, JPY30,500/mt del plant Kyushu, JPY32,500/mt ($313/mt) del Tahara, JPY29500/mt del Takamatsu, and JPY29,000/mt del plant Utsunomiya. Bid for HS del Utsunomiya increased by JPY1,000/mt to JPY31,000/mt.
The steelmaker had raised finished steel prices for December deliveries by JPY2,000/mt ($19/mt) amid bullish global cues and the rise in ferrous scrap purchase prices. The steelmaker is likely to raise product prices further to pass on a partial increase in raw material costs to end-users in domestic and overseas markets.
($1=JPY104; TWD28.5)