Major Vietnamese steel producer Formosa Ha Tinh has started to announce its new prices for HRC to the local market, cutting them by $70/mt compared to December, even slightly more than had been expected by some market sources.
New offers for re-rolling grade SAE1006 HRC (non-skin passed) in the local market for March shipments and beyond are reported at $750/mt CFR, down by $70/mt from the previous month’s $820/mt CFR. Skin-passed SAE1006 coils are usually $5/mt more expensive. Some sources in the local Vietnamese market said that for the major customers the producer may provide some small discounts to $746/mt CFR (for SAE1006 coils). Prices for SS400 are at $745/mt CFR.
The export price of the Vietnamese producer has been settled at $740/mt FOB.
The sharp drop in prices from Formosa have been expected by market sources, who predicted $750-760/mt CFR, as import prices, especially for ex-India material, have been falling rapidly in Vietnam since early last month. The latest deal for ex-India SAE1006 HRC was done at $750/mt CFR Vietnam for 30,000 mt last week, but overall demand from Vietnam has been poor, so traders have been assessing the possibility of getting $740-745/mt CFR from India.