Prices for imported HRC have increased in the fresh deals for ex-Russia and ex-India material to Vietnam this week, supported by the uptrend seen in China amid expected severe production cuts.
A deal for 30,000 mt of ex-Russia SAE1006 HRC was done to Vietnam at $890-900/mt CFR on Tuesday, July 13. This is still among the most attractive prices in the market, but in the previous round of ex-Russia coils bookings the price was $855/mt CFR. This new purchase was for September shipment, sources have said.
In addition to last week's sales at $910-915/mt CFR, new booking for ex-India re-rolling grade coils was heard at $920/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned. This was amid the need to restock, according to market participants. Most offers from India have been starting from $930/mt CFR these days. Overall demand for HRC in Vietnam has remained subdued due to the outbreak of Covid-19 in the south and most customers have been waiting for new prices from Formosa Ha Tinh these days.
The Chinese HRC market has been on the rise as fears for strong production cuts in H2 are supporting local prices. The lowest offers from small mills to Vietnam for SAE1006 HRC have been reported at $940-950/mt CFR for now, while some producers have already increased prices to $1,000/mt CFR again, as they don’t want to sell. “This [production cuts and price increase as a result] is the nice way to block the exporting rather than imposing the export duty,” a source said.
Baosteel, the major Chinese producer, has rolled over its local HRC prices for August, which may encourage Vietnamese mills also to hold prices or decrease them only slightly as overall allocation is limited.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam has been settled at $895-930/mt CFR, the range has widened by $5/mt from late last week, but the midpoint is still at $912.5/mt CFR.