The bullish outlook in the raw material and steel markets worldwide has continued to encourage Chinese suppliers to seek higher prices for HRC in negotiations with the Vietnamese buyers. Accordingly, last week several deals for around 100,000 mt in total of ex-China SS400 HRC have been signed at $868-870/mt CFR Vietnam, up by $3-5/mt compared to the last deal prices. Meanwhile, this week, new ex-China SS400 HRC offers have increased to $875-880/mt CFR Vietnam.
Furthermore, according to market insiders, Vietnamese buyers keep asking for new orders, but China is forced to refuse a lot of them due to the limited supply caused by Covid-19 restrictions. “There are still so many orders coming from Vietnam, but China cannot accept them because of the limitations on working in Tangshan now due to Covid-19. Many Vietnamese buyers are still bidding at $860-870/mt CFR,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
The SteelOrbis’ reference prices for import SAE1006 HRC have moved up to $915-920/mt CFR, compared to $910-920/mt CFR at the end of last week, considering the further rebound in Chinese offers.