Prices in the import HRC market in Vietnam have remained mainly stable this week. Most offers have still been coming from China, as other foreign suppliers have been focused on other markets. However, by the end of this week information about new HRC bookings ex-Kazakhstan appeared in Vietnam and in some other Asian and Middle Eastern countries.
Most offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been voiced at $910-920/mt CFR Vietnam, the same as last week, while several offers from mills have been heard at $935-950/mt CFR. The latest deal for ex-China SAE1006 HRC was reported at $905/mt CFR early last week. Meanwhile, Chinese traders who offered SS400 HRC at $870/mt CFR last week have increased their offers to $890/mt CFR and some even to $900/mt CFR this week. “We still heard some offers at $875/mt CFR, but most traders see no reason to sell at such low levels,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
While other foreign suppliers have been staying out of the Vietnamese market for more than one month, this week a deal for 20,000 mt of HRC from Kazakhstan has been reported at $880/mt CFR. “This deal is likely to have been signed with ArcelorMittal Temirtau, but some market participants do not exclude that the origin of the coils is Russian, as ArcelorMittal Temirtau’s export allocations were not so big before,” a marker insider stated. ArcelorMittal Temirtau was selling slabs and HRC abroad, but only in limited volumes. As SteelOrbis reported earlier this month, Russian mill MMK offered 500,000 mt of HRC to the export market, but no deals have been confirmed for any small volumes out of this total amount so far. Market sources expect the producer to redirect some tonnages to Asia at lower price levels.
Notably, apart from this deal to Vietnam, market insiders reported about other deals for ex-Kazakhstan HRC to Pakistan at $900/mt CFR and to the UAE at $960-970/mt CFR early this week. The market sources are still waiting for the details of these deals as it is still unclear whether they were for Kazakhstan origin or Russian material.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has remained at the same level as last week, at $910-920/mt CFR, considering that most offers from China are unchanged.