Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan's largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung, central Taiwan, has decided to lift its rebar list prices and procurement prices for locally-sourced scrap by another TWD 500/tonne ($18/t) respectively for transactions over February 8-11. Confirming the increases on Tuesday, a company official cited the further growth in global scrap prices and improved steel demand as being behind its decision.
With the latest adjustment, the mini-mill's list price for 13mm dia rebar rises to TWD 21,900/t EXW, while its procurement price for local HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap hits three-month high of TWD 12,500/t, according to the official.
The mini-mill had postponed its weekly pricing meeting till Tuesday instead of the usual Monday, as the company wanted to monitor market changes after the Chinese New Year holiday over January 29-February 6, Mysteel Global learned.
One major reason why Feng Hsin decided to hike its prices this week was the continuous rise in scrap prices in the global market, Mysteel Global was told.
As of February 8, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap was at $472/t CFR Taiwan, up another $17/t from two weeks earlier and hitting the highest since mid-November 2021, according to a local market source. The price of Japan-origin H2 scrap also gained $8/t during the same period to $510/t CFR Taiwan.
In addition, "steel demand has improved somewhat after the long holiday, giving local mills some confidence to lift their rebar list prices accordingly," the company official said.
China's steel prices also saw significant growth after the CNY break, with the expectation for better demand in the coming term, Mysteel Global noted, though many end-users have not returned to the market as yet.
As of February 7, the first working day after the official holiday, China's HRB400 20mm dia rebar price, for example, had strengthened by Yuan 75/tonne ($11.8/t) from January 30 to Yuan 4,892/t including the 13% VAT, the highest since November 10 2021, according to Mysteel's assessment.
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