Following the decision of Vietnamese mill Formosa Ha Tinh Steel to roll over HRC prices, another major local producer Hoa Phat Group has announced its new local prices, holding them stable for November-December shipments.
More specifically, although the new prices from Hoa Phat Group, for SS400 and SAE1006 HRC, have shown a slight upward correction in the Vietnamese currency, standing at VND 14,150-14,200/mt CIF, compared to VND 14,000/mt CIF announced last month, the price on US dollar basis has remained unchanged at $595-600/mt CIF. The price of Hoa Phat is closely watched by market sources to understand the situation in the SS400 HRC segment. “Hoa Phat is offering by around $20/mt higher than traders from China, and offers from Chinese traders are still the most competitive,” a market insider said.
Offers for ex-China SS400 HRC have been reported at $575-585/mt CFR Vietnam this week, with several deals signed last week at the above mentioned level through traders. Meanwhile, although ex-China offers for SAE1006 HRC have remained limited, the indicative offers have dropped to $600-610/mt CFR, compared to $610-620/mt CFR last week.
SteelOrbis has decided to cut the weekly reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam to $600-610/mt CFR, from $610/mt CFR last week, considering that overall sentiment has remained weak and demand has remained under pressure in Vietnam, which may put pressure on import HRC prices in the near future.
