On November 14, Vietnamese steel producer Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS) announced new local prices for HRC for shipment in January, hiking them by $40/mt on average since the end of October. The bullish views of Chinese and other HRC suppliers seen since the end of last month and in November have supported the producer’s move, though most market insiders believe that the new prices are too high for local buyers so far.
FHS has increased its offers for non-skin SAE1006 and SS400 HRC to local customers to around $590-600/mt CIF, versus $555/mt CFR in late October, while skin-passed SAE1006 HRC coils for January have settled at $595-608/mt CIF, against around $560/mt CFR last month. “Most Vietnamese customers were expecting an increase, but up to $580/mt CIF. Besides, Chinese materials are more competitive now, despite the recent hikes,” a market insider told StreelOrbis.
Although bullishness has been mounting in Vietnam’s HRC import market, prices for HRC from Formosa are higher than Chinese prices, and stand in line with indicative prices from Japan. In particular, offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been voiced at $570-580/mt CFR, up by $5/mt on the higher end of the range week on week: however, the reference price level has remained unchanged at $570-575/mt CFR, though some buyers are still expecting additional discounts. Meanwhile, several deals for Q195 HRC for at least 5,000 mt in total have been reported at $540-544/mt CFR, the same as last week.
According to sources, following a deal for around 3,000 mt of ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC at $575/mt CFR last week, new offers from Japanese suppliers have been estimated at $590/mt CFR and above for January shipment.
