The leading HRC producer in Vietnam, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, has been postponing the announcement of new HRC prices for domestic customers since last week mainly due to the unclear market situation and continuous fluctuations in import HRC prices, from China in particular.
Some local sources in Vietnam are expecting Formosa Ha Tinh to announce new HRC prices at $575-580/mt CIF for December-January shipments, down from $588-597/mt CIF announced last month, SteelOrbis has learned. But the recent slight growth in China and the much lower number of competitive offers for the export market from other foreign suppliers may support Formosa’s prices at almost the same levels as last month, some market sources believe.
“After a sharp slump in ex-China prices last week, this week has started with higher offers from Chinese HRC mills as futures prices have been recovering. But it is still unclear if tradable HRC prices will follow suit given the slow demand in Vietnam,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
“New prices are planned to be announced this week,” a representative of Formosa Ha Tinh said. This is a week later than the usual monthly price announcement by the producer.
As for import HRC prices, while Chinese mills have increased their offers for SS400 HRC to $555/mt FOB on average, up by $12.5/mt week on week, smaller mills and traders are still offering their materials at lower levels in Vietnam. In particular, after several lots for 20,000 mt in total for ex-China HRC were booked in Vietnam at $520/mt CFR and slightly below at the end of last week, this week the material has changed hands at $525/mt CFR for December shipment, while most offers have been voiced at $525-530/mt CFR.
Meanwhile, offers for SAE1006 HRC have remained at $550-560/mt CFR Vietnam, though some offers have also been reported at the slightly higher $565/mt CFR level. Other foreign suppliers are still silent in terms of offers and sales in Vietnam, with indicative offers for ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC estimated at $580-585/mt CFR. Thus, the reference price for import SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam remains at $550-560/mt CFR for now.