Though there has been no visible improvement in demand for HRC in Vietnam, the price trend has started to reverse as Chinese exporters have started to gradually increase prices and no very low offers have been reported anymore from Russia or other sources.
Offers for SAE1006 HRC at below $900/mt CFR have disappeared in Vietnam this week after sales of ex-Russia material at $855/mt CFR and ex-China bookings at $900/mt CFR and below a week ago. “MMK just sold at a low price to reduce their stock. This price did not represent the market level,” a local Vietnamese trader said.
Late last week-early this week, a deal for ex-China SS400 HRC was done at $880/mt CFR to Vietnam, while by the middle of this week offers for the same grade have already increased to $895-905/mt CFR.
Offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been reported at $920-930/mt CFR, but just from small mills. No fresh deals have been reported so far, but market sources have assessed the workable level for buyers at around $900/mt CFR or slightly higher.
Market sources said that demand for imported HRC is slack at the moment, also because the new price level is expected to be announced in the local market soon. “Formosa plans to offer at $1,020-1,030/mt FOB for export and $990-1,000/mt CFR for the local market,” one source said.
Indian mills have faced lower demand for HRC in the local market, and so they have been interested in export sales. Mills’ offers have been reported at $940-950/mt CFR, but a decline to $930/mt CFR is possible, according to sources.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has increased by $17.5/mt on average since last week to $900-910/mt CFR.