After skipping its official announcement of local HRC prices in January, the second largest HRC producer in Vietnam, Hoa Phat Group, announced its new prices for HRC for deliveries in March and April to local customers on February 1. The new prices of the company are higher than the prices of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel announced back in January, and also higher than offers for ex-China SS400 HRC, though staying in line with those for SAE1006 HRC from China.
The new prices from Hoa Phat Group for SAE1006 and SS400 HRC for shipments in March and April have settled at VND 15,300-15,380/kg ($645-655/mt) CIF, where the lowest level corresponds to the prices in the northern and central regions of Vietnam, with the highest level in the south. This means that the dollar equivalent is $48-55/mt above that seen in December 2022. “Although prices from Hoa Phat reflect the real tradable level, the new prices, especially for SS400 HRC, are considered to be rather unsustainable, as more and cheaper offers for ex-China SS400 HRC have been coming to Vietnam,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
Prices for HRC from Hoa Phat are slightly higher than Formosa’s $635-640/mt CFR for March shipment, though, according to sources, Formosa is likely to revise its offers for April deliveries HRC in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the situation in the import HRC segment is unclear this week, after both Vietnamese buyers and Chinese suppliers returned from the long holiday. In particular, while this week the big Chinese mills have increased their offers for SS400 HRC by $15/mt on average to $650-670/mt FOB, several deals for at least 10,000-15,000/mt in total of ex-China SS400 HRC have been reported through traders at $625-630/mt CFR this week, compared to offers at $630/mt CFR before the holiday two weeks ago. At the same time, according to Vietnamese customers, no firm offers for ex-China SAE1006 have been voiced, but the indicative offers are estimated at $650-670/mt CFR level. “At the beginning of the week, we heard offers for SAE1006 from China at as high as $670-680/mt CFR, but the tradable level is still estimated at $20/mt lower, though no deals have been heard so far,” a Vietnamese trader told SteelOrbis.
According to sources, other foreign suppliers have continued to stay out of the Vietnamese market, as they have more attractive destinations in terms of prices and sales. In particular, ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC offers have been estimated at $695-700/mt CFR, while indicative prices from India have been heard at $700/mt CFR and above.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam has moved to $650-670/mt CFR, compared to $660-670/mt CFR, given Vietnamese customers’ resistance to higher offers and with no deals reported at higher levels so far, coupled with the bearish mood which has appeared among Chinese traders in the SS400 HRC segment.
