Taiwan’s Feng Hsin ups domestic scrap buying prices

Taiwan’s leading electric arc furnace steelmaker Feng Hsin Iron and Steel lifted domestic scrap bids by T$200/mt ($6.7/mt), accumulating to a three week continued increase of T$700/mt, a source from the mill told S&P Global Platts Monday.

The company’s bids for local HMS I/II 80:20 scrap after the increase will be at T$7,600/mt ($253/mt), effective April 21, for deliveries to its Taichung mill.

 “We need it, and other mills also seeing more demand for local scrap too. And this is causing the suppliers to hold back volume flows to push higher prices,” the source said. “Seaborne volumes from US have been weaker due to their supply issue, so perhaps that’s why everyone is buying domestically or from Japan.”

Containerized shipments of similar quality scrap from US West Coast origins were heard offered Monday at $230/mt CFR Taiwan, putting the spread between domestic and import prices at a wide $23/mt, unlike the usual range of around $10/mt, sources said.

Its only uptick of T$300/mt last week was still lagging behind T$400/mt in comparison to the increases seen within the domestic scrap market since its rebound April 14.

-- Samuel Chin