Taiwan: Feng Hsin keeps rebar, scrap prices stable amid firm costs

• No Japan H2 offers amid public holiday
  
  
• Firm raw material costs support finished steel prices
  
  

Mysteel Global: Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer and headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to hold its rebar list prices and local scrap purchase prices steady for transactions over 4 May-8 May to monitor market changes, according to a company official.

For business discussions through until this Friday, Feng Hsin continues to offer its 13mm-diameter rebar at TWD 18,900/tonne (t) ($600/t) EXW, unchanged since mid-April, while the company's buying price for local HMS 80:20 scrap stays unchanged on week at TWD 10,100/t ($322/t), the official confirmed.

This marks the third consecutive week that the Taiwanese mini-mill has maintained the two prices, suggesting that it is in no hurry to adjust them, given the minor changes in prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan, Mysteel Global learned.

As of 4 May, the price of US-sourced HMS 80:20 scrap came in at $363/t CFR Taiwan, edging up $1/t on week after being stable over the prior week. There was no quotation for Japan-origin H2 scrap due to the public holiday in Japan, according to a local market source in Taiwan.

As for the steel market in the Chinese mainland, rebar prices have steadily strengthened due to the positive sentiment prevailing in the domestic market and the cost support finished product prices are enjoying from firming prices of major steelmaking raw materials, Mysteel Global noted.

For example, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm rebar an indicator of the country's domestic steel-market sentiment was assessed by Mysteel at RMB 3,415/t ($502/t) including 13% VAT on 30 April, the last working day before the May Day holiday over 1 May-5 May, increasing by RMB 24/t ($4/t) from April 24.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.