On April 14, Vietnamese steel producer Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS) announced new local prices for HRC for June shipment at levels $40-45/mt below last month given the sharp decrease in import prices and still slow consumption in the major end-user industries. However, despite the fall, prices from Formosa are still high for most local customers given the more competitive offers coming especially from China.
Formosa Ha Tinh’s prices for rerolling grade SAE1006 HRC (non-skin passed) to local customers have been voiced at the level of $682/mt CFR this month, down by $45/mt month on month, while offers for skin-passed SAE1006 HRC have decreased for June by $40/mt to $692/mt CFR. Offers for SS400 HRC have settled at $687/mt CFR, down by $40/mt over the past month. “Formosa’s new prices are higher than we expected and totally uncompetitive given that ex-China offers for SAE1006 HRC are around $50/mt lower, while for SS400 Chinese offers are more than $80/mt lower,” a market insider said.
Notably, ex-China SS400 HRC offers from traders have been voiced in Vietnam at $590-600/mt CFR, down by $15/mt week on week, with a several deals reportedly signed at the abovementioned levels. Besides, buyers’ bids have fallen to $580/mt CFR, versus $590/mt CFR at the beginning of this week. Meanwhile, ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been offered by traders at $640-650/mt CFR, down by $10-20/mt week on week. Other suppliers, like those from India and Taiwan, have continued to stay away from the Vietnamese market, with only new offers for ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC reported to be coming at $680/mt CFR, down by $20/mt week on week.
“Some were expecting new Formosa’s offers in line with Japanese HRC at $680/mt CFR or slightly lower. But this move made by Formosa is mainly connected to their focus on export sales expansion, especially to Europe,” another source told SteelOrbis. In particular, this week, ex-Vietnam HRC offers have been voiced in southern Europe at €735-745/mt CFR, compared to €750/mt CFR last week, being one of the most competitive among the other foreign suppliers.
The SteelOrbis’ reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has remained at $640-650/mt CFR, the same as at the beginning of this week and compared to $660/mt CFR at the end of last week.
