Taiwanese Scrap prices follow a consistently downward trend throughout January

TAIWAN February 26 2015 10:48 AM

TAIPEI (Scrap Register): Taiwanese scrap prices followed a consistently downward trend throughout January with weekly falls ranging between $5 and $10 a ton.

The beginning of January saw the balance of power in the Taiwanese scrap market stay with steel mills as abundant competitive alternatives and no great drivers to buy, due to weak steel demand, left buyers in no hurry to transact.

As per TSI, the prices for Taiwanese imports of HMS #1&2 80:20 dropped $27.95 a ton to a monthly average of $ 255.25 a ton in January.

In Taiwan, flat steel product transaction values have continued to fall. Integrated producer, CSC, had anticipated further declines when it cut official domestic list prices for March by an average of 2.3 percent, compared with the figures published for the January/February period. Global markets are very competitive at present and both the steelmakers and manufacturers of finished goods have concerns about their ability to sell overseas.