On March 1, the second largest HRC producer in Vietnam, Hoa Phat Group, announced its new local prices for HRC for shipments in April and May, hiking them by around $35-40/mt month on month. The new prices of the company are just slightly below those from Formosa, and are staying in line with those coming from China for SAE1006 HRC, but higher than offers for ex-China SS400 HRC.
The new prices from Hoa Phat Group for SAE1006 and SS400 HRC for shipments in April and May have settled at VND 16,330/kg (around $690/mt) CIF. This means that the dollar equivalent is $35-40/mt above that seen in February. According to most sources, the new prices of Hoa Phat Group reflect the tradable level for SAE1006 HRC, though cheaper offers for ex-China SS400 HRC coming at $635-650/mt CFR Vietnam have been more attractive to buyers.
Prices for HRC from Hoa Phat are slightly lower than Formosa’s $695-700/mt CFR for April shipment, though, according to sources, Formosa is likely to revise its offers upwards for May shipment HRC in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, bullishness has been mounting in the Vietnamese HRC import market this week. In particular, after at least 20,000 mt of ex-China SAE1006 HRC were sold to Vietnam at $670-675/mt CFR last week, new offers have been heard at $685-690/mt CFR, with a few small deals have been reportedly signed at $680/mt CFR this week, according to sources. At the same time, most offers for ex-China SS400 HRC have been voiced at $650-660/mt CFR, up by $10-20/mt week on week, however, according to sources, the materials have still been available at $635/mt CFR from some Chinese suppliers.
Offers from other foreign suppliers are still rare in Vietnam and are considered overpriced by most customers. In particular, offers for SAE1006 HRC from Japanese, Indian and Taiwanese suppliers have been reported at $720-740/mt CFR, up by $10/mt on the higher end of the range over the past week.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has moved to $680-690/mt CFR, compared to $670-680/mt CFR at the end of last week given the ongoing bullishness among all foreign suppliers and the hikes reported in deal prices.