Most sources in the Vietnamese HRC market share a negative view of the future trend of the market, but a lot will depend on the new prices from Chinese mills and traders after the holidays.
For now, the reference price level for imported HRC in Vietnam has remained at $510-515/mt CFR, the same as late last week. “It has been quiet recently. Customers are waiting for China's mills to return to the market,” a source said.
Most market participants are still bearish, seeing low bids. “A lot will be clear tomorrow onwards, when the Chinese come back in full swing, but until then Vietnamese buyers are trying to push for lower numbers,” an international trader said. “China and Russia can go down to $500/mt CFR and below at this stage, but not others,” another trader said.
Though most Indian mills have been not offering to Vietnam due to the low tradable value, there have been some reports in the market that one of the Indian suppliers is ready to give $510/mt CFR as an offer in negotiations, but this has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
Nevertheless, there are some signs of a possible short-lived rebound of Chinese HRC prices just after the holidays, according to a number of sources. “Chinese stockists increased offers by $5-8/mt for SS400B,” a source said. “Rizhao increased their HRC offer by $5/mt,” another trader said, adding that traders who sold in a short position before the holidays have been searching around, trying to cover their positions now before Friday, fearing a price increase from mills.