Taiwan-based Feng Hsin steel has announced a hike in its ferrous scrap purchase and rebar sale prices by TWD200/mt for the week from the prior Monday. Suppliers are refusing to negotiate much amid positive global sentiment and bullish cues in the finished steel markets.
Effective July 27, Feng Hsin’s domestic base HMS 1&2 (80:20) purchase price will be TWD7,000-7,100/mt ($238-242/mt) delivered Taichung plant. The steelmaker’s base offers for rebar and billet will be at TWD14,000-14,200/mt and TWD12,500-12,700/mt ex-plant, respectively. The mill is unlikely to offer a discount on its offers.
Following Feng Hsin’s footsteps, other EAF makers have also started accepting offers of TWD7,200/mt for domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) del plants. Inventories with most mills have started to deplete. A steep rise in imported scrap offers has kept mills away from resorting to overseas trades.
In seaborne trades, late last week US and Australian-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) traded at $245-247/mt cfr Taiwan. Offers reported at $248-250/mt cfr Taiwan on Monday following global cues.
The daily Davis Index for Turkish imports of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) climbed by $0.02/mt to $271/mt cfr Turkey as suppliers rejected bids of $270/mt cfr. Most market participants are expecting the bullishness in Turkey’s prices to continue this week too.
Last week, domestic ferrous scrap prices in Taiwan maintained a ‘flat to up’ trennd. Last Tuesday, the index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) in North Taiwan settled at TWD6,850/mt del plant, up by TWD50/mt from a week ago. Yards has started raising their offers. Prices had shown signs of recovery and had risen by $10-15/mt from two weeks earlier.
In small bulk markets, Japanese HMS 1&2 (50:50) traded at $255-260/mt cfr Taiwan on Friday. Japanese export prices are also likely to rise more this week to over JPY25,000/mt fob Japan for #2 HMS export, said a trader.
($1=TWD29.36)