Amid ongoing declines in Chinese HRC futures prices alongside falling ex-India HRC offers and lower deal prices for re-rolling grade material, Vietnam’s HRC import market has lacked a clear direction in the past week, with sentiment among local buyers now skewing in a more negative than positive direction. Thus, by Thursday, December 11, local producer Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS) has revised its domestic offers down by around $15/mt month on month.
More specifically, after the announcement at the beginning of the month of the other major local producer Hoa Phat Group of new local HRC offers at lower levels, this week FHS has also decreased its new prices for non-skin passed SAE1006 and SS400 HRC, by $15/mt month on month to $492/mt CIF, for orders for a minimum of 20,000 mt. For 10,000-20,000 mt orders, the price has settled at $494-496/mt CIF, for smaller volumes of 5,000-10,000 mt, 2,000-5,000 mt and below 2,000 mt of HRC, the buyers will have to pay $498/mt CIF, $500/mt CIF and $502/mt CIF, respectively. All prices are for January shipment.
“The reduction in offers from Formosa has created a pessimistic mood in the Vietnamese market, as the company typically sets the pricing trend. With offers now falling below $500/mt, participants expect import prices to decline further in December, leaving little room for any stabilization,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
The current prices from Formosa for the local market for large volumes are around $10-12/mt lower than those from the other major Vietnamese producer Hoa Phat Group ($504-505/mt CIF).
Meanwhile, import offers for ex-China Q235 2,000 mm HRC have been voiced at $470-472/mt CFR, compared to $478/mt CFR last week. Besides, indicative offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been estimated at $485/mt CFR, down by $10/mt week on week.
The most competitive offers for SAE1006 HRC have been voiced from Indian suppliers at $480-485/mt CFR, down by $5/mt week on week. Besides, following a deal for around 30,000mt of ex-India HRC signed at $480-482/mt CFR Vietnam for January shipment last week, this week another deal for around 20,000 mt has been signed at $478-482/mt CFR, while talk about one more deal for around 40,000 mt signed at $475/mt CFR has been circulating in the market, which translates to around $455-457/mt FOB.
Offers from other suppliers of SAE1006 HRC have been estimated at $490510/mt CFR.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has moved to $475-490/mt CFR, from $490-495/mt CFR last week, given more discounted offers and deal prices coming from India.