Vietnam’s import hot rolled coil (HRC) market has shown a clear downward bias this week, with discounted ex-China bookings for pipe-making grades setting the tone. However, sentiment for re-rolling HRC has also turned increasingly bearish, with a few deals concluded at lower price levels as buyers have continued to push for discounts amid soft regional demand.
Offers for ex-China 2,000 mm Q235 HRC, which are not targeted by AD duty, have been reported at $485-488/mt CFR, compared to $490-492/mt CFR last week. At the same time, sources reported several deals this week for ex-China Q235 HRC, including around 5,000 mt concluded yesterday, October 13, at $486/mt CFR Vietnam, and another deal today at $483/mt CFR. Besides, following a transaction for 20,000 mt of Q195 HRC at $468/mt CFR, most subsequent bids have fallen to around $455/mt CFR. Meanwhile, ex-China offers for SAE1006 HRC have remained limited and unattractive to most buyers in Vietnam due to AD duty, with the indicative offers estimated at $505/mt CFR, down by $5/mt week on week.
This week, HRC futures prices in China have kept shown slight changes, decreasing by RMB 44/mt ($6.2/mt) or 1.3 percent since October 10, while decreasing by 0.7 percent compared to the previous trading day, October 13.
Other import prices for SAE1006 HRC have been estimated at $508-520/mt CFR, depending on the supplier, mainly the same as last week. The lower end of the range corresponds to ex-Indonesia HRC deal prices at $508/mt CFR for around 5,000-10,000 mt booked last week.
At the same time, market chatter has emerged about a deal for around 30,000 mt of ex-India HRC reportedly concluded at $495-498/mt CFR Vietnam. However, this information has not been confirmed by the seller by the time of publication. “The deal price could be lower due to the material’s grade, while most offers for SAE1006 are currently estimated at around $510-515/mt CFR Vietnam,” a local trader told SteelOrbis.
Offers from Malaysia and Japan have been estimated at $515-520/mt CFR, the same as last week.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has moved to $505-508/mt CFR Vietnam, compared with $508-510/mt CFR last week.