Major Vietnamese producer Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS) has started to announce its new HRC prices for the local market, increasing them by $35/mt compared to November, even slightly more than had been expected by some market sources, since, despite recent ex-China HRC prices hikes which resulted in numerous deals in Vietnam, sentiment has been uncertain over the future price trend in the short run in China.
FHS’s new offers for non-skin passed SAE1006 and SS400 HRC in the local market for January and February shipments are reported at $625-635/mt CIF, up by $35/mt from last month. Skin-passed SAE1006 coils have been offered at $630-643/mt CIF, against $595-608/mt CIF last month.
Meanwhile, the export price of the Vietnamese producer has settled at $660/mt FOB for the European market, which has been the focus for FHS for many months now.
At the same time, the rise in prices from Formosa has been expected by market sources, though they were expecting slightly lower prices at around $610-620/mt CIF. “Although Chinese HRC prices have been increasing over the past few weeks in Vietnam, the future price trend is unclear due to slow demand and insufficient government support in China,” a Chinese trader told SteelOrbis. The latest deal for around 10,000 mt of ex-China SAE1006 HRC has been reported at $590/mt CFR for January shipment, up by $10/mt week on week, while most ex-China SAE1006 HRC offers have been voiced at $590-620/mt CFR. Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price is now at $590/mt CFR, against $580-585/mt CFR last week.
Besides, more deals for ex-China Q195 for at least 10,000 mt in total are reported to have been signed at $567-570/mt CFR, against $555-560/mt CFR last week. Furthermore, several deals for ex-China Q235 HRC have been heard at $570/mt CFR. Offers for ex-China SS400 HRC have been estimated at around $575-580/mt CFR, up by around $15/mt over the past week.
Other suppliers, however, are still out of the Vietnamese market, with indicative offers for ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC standing at $630/mt CFR for February shipment, while offers for ex-Taiwan HRC have been voiced this week at $635/mt CFR for end-of-February shipment.
In the meantime, the other major Vietnamese HRC producer, Hoa Phat Group, who at the beginning of the month announced its local HRC quotes at $603-605/mt CIF, this week has announced new export offers for ASEAN countries at $630/mt FOB, for the EU at $640/mt FOB and for Mexico at $650/mt FOB, while the total allocation for exports is estimated at 80,000 mt, according to sources.
