Taiwan's ferrous scrap imports rose in June on mills' restocking demand, but overall imports in the first half of the year fell given prolonged weakness in the steel market.
- Taiwan imported 159,000t of ferrous scrap in June, up by 12pc from May and by 0.7pc from a year earlier, customs data show. Imports for January-June dropped by 20pc from a year earlier to 762,000t.
- The imported containerised HMS 1/2 80:20 price trended steadily higher from the start of the year until mid-May, with the Argus assessment rising by $64/t to $361/t on 19 May. Optimistic market sentiment encouraged some steelmakers to be more active in the seaborne market, but weak fundamentals still curbed overall imports in the first half.
- Taiwan imported 360,000t of semi-finished steel in June, up by 36pc from May. Imports for January-June fell by 22pc from a year earlier to 1.35mn t, in line with the reduced scrap imports, reflecting weak steel demand in Taiwan.
- Scrap imports are likely to edge lower from July as imported scrap prices fell from late May and Taiwanese mills scaled down scrap purchases during the summer electricity restriction period, according to market sources.
- The US remained the top ferrous scrap supplier in the first half, with volumes down by 21pc at 389,000t.
- Imports from Japan in the first half fell below those from Dominica, as Japanese scrap prices were higher than those from other origins and mills bought less from Japan. Supply from Dominica and other South American countries rose strongly and filled the gap after Japanese scrap import volumes declined.
| Taiwan's ferrous scrap imports | t | ||||
| Country | June '26 | m-o-m ± % | y-o-y ± % | Jan-Jun '26 | y-o-y ± % |
| US | 79,525 | 11.6 | -26.8 | 388,591 | -21 |
| Japan | 13,740 | 42 | 113 | 46,446 | -10.4 |
| Dominican Republic | 11,984 | -3.1 | 153.6 | 46,920 | 44.3 |
| Australia | 5,242 | -57 | -64.9 | 79,261 | -66.7 |
| Others | 48,213 | 33 | 111 | 200,813 | 42.9 |
| Total | 158,704 | 12 | 0.7 | 762,031 | -20.2 |
| Source: Taiwan customs | |||||