The leading HRC producer in Vietnam, Formosa Ha Tinh, is going to announce its new prices for local customers next week - on Tuesday, July 20, according to preliminary information. This is a week later than the usual monthly price announcement by the producer.
Some local sources in Vietnam were expecting Formosa Ha Tinh to announce new HRC prices at $980-990/mt CFR for September this week, down from $1,030-1,035/mt CFR announced last month, SteelOrbis has learned. But the recent uptrend in China and the much lower number of competitive offers for the export market from China may support Formosa’s prices at almost the same level as last month, some market sources believe. “Chinese mills are hiking offers. They don’t want to sell cheap, having lower allocations [because of production inspections],” a trader said.
At least two large Chinese mills have started to offer SAE1006 HRC at $1,000/mt FOB by the end of this week, or around $1,025-1,030/mt CFR Vietnam.
Nevertheless, general demand for HRC in Vietnam remains reduced by seasonal factors and the serious situation regarding the spread of Covid-19. As a result, buyers are looking for lower prices. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, a deal for 30,000 mt of ex-Russia SAE1006 HRC was done to Vietnam at $890-900/mt CFR on Tuesday, July 13. Indian suppliers have sold at least two lots of 20,000 mt each this week - at $920-930/mt CFR, sources have confirmed by the end of this week.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam is staying at $895-930/mt CFR for now.
The September allocation of HRC from Formosa Ha Tinh will be stable at 380,000 mt.
