Trade activity in the Vietnam’s HRC import market has remained sluggish as Vietnam like China is about to begin the Lunar New Year holiday and most market insiders have already left the market. At the same time, following the recovery of HRC import prices last week, most offers have continued to increase this week as Chinese traders have decided to go higher once again before before leaving the market for the holiday. However, despite the higher offers, especially for ex-China Q235 HRC, tradable prices for SAE1006 HRC have mainly moved sideways, while a number of customers have even been pushing for discounts.
Specifically, offers for ex-China Q235/SS400 HRC to Vietnam have been voiced at $479-482/mt CFR, versus $470-475/mt CFR at the end of last week. Meanwhile, offers for SAE1006 have been reported at around $490-495/mt CFR, the same as last week, though, according to sources, some Vietnamese customers have managed to achieve additional discounts, with a deal for around 10,000 mt of ex-China HRC reported to have been signed at $487-488/mt CFR at the end of last week. “Although Chinese suppliers have been increasing their offers given the recovery of futures prices, most bids have not exceeded $490/mt CFR,” a Vietnamese trader told SteelOrbis, adding, “Most prefer to return to business after the holiday. Now, only occasional ‘last moment’ bookings can be done.”
At the same time, while other foreign suppliers, including those from Japan, India and Taiwan have continued to stay out of the Vietnamese market, offers for ex-Indonesia HRC have been voiced at $495-497/mt CFR for end-of-March shipment.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC has moved to $490-495/mt CFR, against $495-500/mt CFR last week.