Taiwan's scrap imports rose by 6pc on the month, but fell by 11pc on the year to 310,000t in May, as buyers secured more containerised scrap when prices dropped below the $400/t level for May arrival shipments.
Steelmakers actively sourced containerised scrap from different origins to make up for the fall in Japanese scrap imports on small bulk vessels as Japanese suppliers sought higher prices compared with suppliers in other regions.
Imports from the US increased by 3pc on the year to 126,000t in May, as mills bought large volumes of US scrap when prices rose to $435/t from $365/t between mid-February and early March. Taiwanese mills' interest for US scrap was very high in the early stages of the price rise but their interest and buying activity slowed as soon as prices moved above $400/t. Mills' buying interest subsequently increased again as prices began to fall on 9 March and eventually fell to $390/t on 30 March.
Shipments of Japanese scrap were more than halved on the year to just 67,000t in May because of uncompetitive pricing. H1/H2 50:50 offers were at $420-470/t cfr Taiwan in late March-late April, when May arrival shipments were being discussed. These Japanese offers were significantly higher than US offers for containerised HMS 1/2 80:20 at $390-423/t cfr Taiwan for the same shipment window. And Japanese suppliers were not willing to cut offers because of rising freight rates. Taiwanese buyers therefore avoided buying H1 and H2 scrap, as they hold ample inventory of similar grades. Most of the imported Japanese scrap in May was premium grade scrap.
Imports from Australia increased by 40pc on the year to 26,000t. Australian scrap sellers turned their focus to Taiwan as demand from south Asia fell because of the Covid-19 outbreak in the region. Buyers were happy to secure as many tons as possible from any origins at their workable levels in order to make up for the lower Japanese imports. Imports from Canada increased by 65pc on the year to 21,000t in May while imports from the Dominican Republic were more than doubled to 16,000t. Scrap imports from other origins rose by 4pc year on year to 54,000t.
Taiwan imported 1.38mn t of scrap in January-May, down by 13pc on the year. Taiwanese mills' interest for containerised scrap is likely to remain high as Japanese scrap offers are still comparatively very high because of strong domestic demand.
