TAIWAN STEEL SCRAP: Prices slip further ahead of National Day holiday

Import prices for containerized ferrous scrap in the key Taiwanese market slipped further in the week to Friday October 9 ahead of a major holiday in the territory, sources said.

Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for containerized cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $265-267 per tonne on Friday October 9, unchanged from Thursday and down by $3-5 per tonne from $270 per tonne on October 2.

Negotiations for containerized cargoes of heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) from the United States West Coast were at $265-270 per tonne cfr Taiwan in the first half of the week, before transactions were concluded at $265-267 per tonne cfr Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday.

Negotiations ceased on Friday due to the National Day celebrations starting from October 9, sources said.

Offers were at $267-270 per tonne cfr Taiwan for material from the US West Coast, while buyers were bidding at $265 per tonne cfr Taiwan. A buyer said negotiations for material from South and Central America were at $250-255 per tonne cfr Taiwan.

Market direction had initially been unclear, although buyers were bidding lower than last week. Sellers in the US had been hesitant to offer large volumes due to the ongoing domestic settlements.

A major buyer had dropped its purchase price for domestic scrap by NT$300 ($10.46) per tonne to NT$7,200 per tonne, while dropping its rebar sales price by NT$400 per tonne to NT$15,300 per tonne.

“Inventory levels of both ferrous scrap and billet remain high in the domestic markets and there is little impetus for buyers to chase after higher prices,” a Taiwanese trader told Fastmarkets on Thursday.

Offers for bulk cargoes of Japanese H1&H2 (50:50) were at $285-288 per tonne cfr, while bids were heard at $280 per tonne cfr, sources said. There were no confirmed transactions heard for such material due to its premium over containerized cargoes from the US West Coast.

Traders were also hesitant to enter into trading positions ahead of the Kanto Tetsugen auction results announced on Friday morning.