Taiwan
Taiwanese mills continued to limit their ferrous scrap imports due to a continued rise in offer prices. Steelmakers instead opted for domestic scrap. A delay in shipments had also impacted this decision.
The Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Monday settled flat from Thursday at $438/mt cfr Taiwan. No deals were heard as offers were also limited due to holidays.
Feng Hsin Steel on Monday raised rebar and ferrous scrap prices by TWD900/mt($32/mt) ex-works and TWD600/mt delivered mill, respectively. After the revision, the steelmaker’s base price for rebar was at TWD18,900-19,000/mt ex -southern mills.
Many market participants believe prices could rise further in January amid global short supply and strong domestic demand for ferrous scrap.
Japan
Tokyo Steel hiked ferrous scrap price for the tenth time in December. Effective Dec 26, Tokyo steel lifted ferrous scrap purchase prices by JPY1,000/mt ($9.6/mt) for Tahara plant and JPY2000/mt for Kyushu, Utsunomiya, and Takamatsu. Bids for ferrous scrap deliveries to the Okayama plant were kept unchanged. The revised bids for #2 HMS are JPY43,000/mt ($415.5/mt) del Tahara, JPY41,500/mt del Okayama, JPY41,000/mt del plant Kyushu, JPY41,000/mt del Takamatsu, and JPY43,000/mt del plant Utsunomiya.
Mill could increase finished steel prices by JPY10,000/mt ($96.6/mt) for January sales.
($1=JPY103.5; TWD28)