The mood in the import HRC segment in Vietnam has continued to improve over the past week, mainly on the rebound in ex-China offers given the better local market situation in China amid the easing of Covid-19 measures in most regions of the country. However, despite the optimism among HRC suppliers, trade has remained muted in Vietnam, still affected by weak demand.
Accordingly, the prices available for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been voiced at as high as $590-600/mt CFR, compared to $570/mt CFR last week. Some rumours about position cargoes for ex-China SAE1006 HRC at $570/mt CFR have been circulating in Vietnam. However, while some believe that this level could be realistic given the extremely weak demand in Vietnam, others are sure that there is not much logic in selling at such a low level given the better mood globally even though export sales from China are very low now. “Chinese mills sold domestically good volumes today, so there is no pressure to sell at low prices up to this point. Exports are a bit congested as buyers are not accepting the new asking prices, but sellers do not want to lower prices,” a Chinese trader said.
Meanwhile, offers for ex-China SS400 HRC have been heard at $580-590/mt CFR, compared to $545-550/mt CFR at the beginning of last week and up by $25/mt since the end of last week.
At the same time, other foreign suppliers have been staying out of the Vietnamese market this week, with only offers for ex-Taiwan SAE1006 HRC reported at around $590-600/mt CFR, up by $20-30/mt week on week. As for Japan, the latest offers for SAE1006 HRC were heard at $570/mt CFR at the beginning of last week. This week, however, “they [Japanese exporters] do not want to sell amid full orders,” according to one market source. “Maybe it is possible to buy ex-Japan HRC, which is already in port, but we have not heard at what price,” a Vietnamese trader said. In the meantime, suppliers from India have been out of the Vietnamese market as well, focusing on other outlets, such as the Middle East and Europe.
According to market participants, talk about a deal for ex-India HRC at $535-540/mt FOB has been circulating in the market this week, but this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
The reference price for import SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam has moved to $570-590/mt CFR, compared to $550-570/mt CFR at the end of last week, with the lower end of the range corresponding to Vietnamese customers’ bids and with the higher end corresponding to offers coming from China and Taiwan.
