Taiwan's scrap market sentiment has eased this week. Sales of US scrap to Turkey have weakened due to the earthquake there, which has led to more supply going to Asian markets.

Kallanish assessed HMS 1&2 80:20 container scrap at $410-415/tonne cfr Taiwan, down by $7.5/t on-week.

Containerised US-origin HMS 1&2 80:20 was offered at $420/t cfr Taiwan, unchanged from last week. However, deals were heard at $415/t cfr Taiwan earlier this week. A scrap trader in Taiwan tells Kallanish he believes prices may fall to $410/t cfr and below this week. Some bookings took place at $420/t cfr last week, but local Taiwanese buyers will no longer accept prices higher than $415/t cfr.

The impact of the earthquake on scrap demand in Turkey is significant, and Taiwanese scrap buyers are re-evaluating the supply and demand pattern. "The market is waiting to see if the demand in Turkey can recover quickly, especially since mills need to restock before Ramadan at the end of March," says a Taiwanese scrap recycler.

For Japanese H2 50:50 bulk scrap, sales were still quiet with offers at $435-440/t cfr, but bids were around $5/t lower at $430/t cfr Taiwan.

Local electric arc furnace producer Feng Hsin Iron & Steel cut its rebar sales prices and scrap buying prices each by TWD 200/t ($6.58/t) this week. Its purchase price for HMS1 is now at TWD 12,400/t ($408/t) and the list price for #5 (5/8 inches or 15.875mm nominal diameter base) rebar remains stable at TWD 21,000/t ex-works. 

The steel mill says the price of imported scrap steel is the same as that of domestic material, and there has been no increase in its procurement volumes this week.