Daily Steel News - 14 Apr 10

Taiwan rebar prices continue upwards on rising scrap, demand
Major Taiwanese rebar producers have again raised their prices because of higher scrap prices and strong demand, taking ex-works list prices to TWD 21,600-21,700/tonne ($684-688/t) this week. Prices have risen by TWD 1,600-2,200/t ($51-70/t) since the beginning of April. Feng Hsin Iron & Steel in central Taichung increased prices of its standard SD280 medium-sized rebars by TWD 1,000/t ($32/t) to TWD 21,700/t this week. The recent surge in rebar prices has not dampened orders, a Feng Hsin spokesman tells Steel Business Briefing. “Customers understand that the raw materials price rise is the reason for the increase,” he says. Wei Chih Steel in southern Tainan raised its SD280 prices by TWD 1,200/t ($38/t) to TWD 21,700/t this week. Demand, particularly from Southeast Asia, remains strong, says a senior Wei Chih official. “Customers have no problems accepting the price increases as their inventory is low as well,” he adds. Hai Kwang Enterprise in southern Kaohsiung raised its SD280 prices to TWD 21,600/t this week. Hai Kwang, which did not table offer prices at the beginning of last week, later raised its prices firstly to TWD 21,000/t and then to TWD 21,300/t over the course of the week, from TWD 20,000/t in late March. The company is selling a limited quantity of rebars this week as raw materials prices are rising too rapidly, and it does not rule out another price hike in the near-term, says a Hai Kwang spokeswoman. “Customers are worried that if they don’t buy now, prices will rise even further later on,” she adds.

Billet prices approaching $615/t in northern China
Spurred by rising raw material and steel prices, billet prices in northern China’s Tangshan city have galloped to a level close to RMB 4,200/tonne ($615/t), Steel Business Briefing learns from industry sources. In Tangshan, ex-works prices for 150x150mm Q235 billet are prevailingly at RMB 4,180/t ($612/t), with VAT and on a cash payment basis. Prices last Wednesday were around RMB 3,980/t ($583/t). Since early March, prices have increased by about RMB 780/t ($114/t). As SBB has reported, since last weekend leading steel mills such as Shagang and Hebei Iron & Steel have decided to further increase their ex-works prices by RMB 150-250/t ($22-37/t) to cover higher production costs or expected rises in those costs. With much higher raw material prices from last year, the current billet prices have well exceeded their previous highs of about RMB 3,900/t ($571/t) achieved in early August of 2009. But a local billet producer tells SBB that some traders started loosening their prices late on Tuesday, because of slowing transactions. They initially were offering at RMB 4,190/t ($614/t) delivered to local buyers, and reduced offers to about RMB 4,150/t ($608/t). He suggests most mills will keep their ex-works prices stable over the next few days to wait for a clear market direction. They might make slight price cuts if slow buying conditions go on, but no deep adjustments are expected in the short term.