The HRC market in Vietnam has been quiet late this week as Chinese suppliers have been absent due to the long holiday and customers have still been voicing very low bids. It is expected that activity will increase by mid-October.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC has been lowered to $510-515/mt CFR, down by $5/mt from the previous level last week. There has been rumour about a position cargo from China traded at $510/mt CFR or slightly below, but this has not been confirmed by the time of publication. Nevertheless, this price has been assessed by some sources as “reasonable”. “We believe prices will go down further, so bids are still mostly below $500/mt CFR,” a local source said. Offers from Chinese traders before the holiday were averaging at $515-520/mt CFR.
Traders have reported lower offers for ex-Russia coils, at around $505/mt CFR, but most bids have been at a much lower level, at $485-490/mt CFR.
“People are waiting for China to come back, as this will set a trend,” a trader said.