Although last week market insiders reported that no official offers would be announced by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel for October deliveries HRC, on August 15 the company has finally come up with new offers for local buyers at a level $45/mt below last month’s prices. However, despite the drop in offer prices, most Vietnamese buyers expect to negotiate contract prices.
More specifically, Formosa Ha Tinh’s prices for re-rolling SAE1006 HRC (non-skin passed) to local customers have been voiced at $610/mt CFR, down by $45/mt from the previous month, while for skin-passed SAE1006 coils the price level has dropped to around $620/mt CFR. The decision to cut prices was mainly based on the levels of workable import HRC offers, which, despite the rebound over the past weeks, do not exceed $630/mt CFR.
At the same time, although the current offers from Formosa Ha Tinh are in line with the most competitive import offers, market insiders believe it is possible to sign a deal at a lower level as the company plans to discuss separate offers for each customer.
Meanwhile, business activities in the HRC market have remained weak in Vietnam due to sluggish demand coupled with high stocks. Suppliers from Japan have been offering their materials at around $630/mt CFR, while offers from Taiwan and South Korea have been heard at $620/mt CFR. Offers for Indian boron-added materials have settled at $610-620/mt CFR, while the indicative offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been voiced at around $630-640/mt CFR.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam has settled at $610-630/mt CFR on August 15, compared to $610-640/mt CFR last week, considering that most import offers, except for ex-China coils, have not been exceeding the $630/mt CFR level.