Taiwan's Feng Hsin holds rebar, scrap prices amid weak market sentiment

• Seasonal slowdown weighs on construction steel consumption
  
  
• Imported US scrap prices extend weekly decline
  
  

Mysteel Global:Taiwan's largest rebar producer, Feng Hsin Steel, headquartered in Taichung in central Taiwan, has decided to hold its rebar list price and local scrap purchasing price unchanged for transactions over 29 June - 3 July to monitor market changes, according to a company official.

For business discussions through this Friday, Feng Hsin continues to offer its 13mm-diameter rebar at TWD 18,100/t ($567/t) EXW, the same level as the prior week. Meanwhile, the mini-mill's buying price for local HMS 80:20 scrap also stays flat on week at TWD 9,600/t ($301/t), the official confirmed.

Although prices of global scrap delivered to Taiwan have continued to weaken recently, the Taiwanese mini-mill chose to stay on the sidelines, rolling over both rebar list prices and local scrap procurement prices while awaiting clearer market signals, Mysteel Global learned.

As of 29 June, the US-origin HMS 80:20 scrap was reported at $345/t CFR Taiwan, falling for the fifth consecutive week by $5/t on week. No quotation for Japanese H2 scrap was available over the previous week, according to a local market source in Taiwan.

Rebar prices in the Chinese mainland have edged lower recently due to the thinning demand from end-users during the traditional off-season in summer, as high temperatures in northern China and frequent rainfall in southern China dampened outdoor construction activities.

As of 29 June, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm rebar under Mysteel's assessment came in at RMB 3,305/tonne ($487/t) including 13% VAT, lower by RMB 40/t ($6/t) from one week before.

Spot sales of construction steel stayed tepid in China. The daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod, and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese trading houses monitored by Mysteel averaged 92,513 tonnes/day over 23 June -29 June, still hovering at a low level, though it had increased by 7,061 t/d on week.

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