The second largest HRC producer in Vietnam, Hoa Phat, announced its new HRC prices for local and foreign customers early this week, but the decline has been much smaller than expected by most market participants. This is linked to the hopes for some domestic demand improvement in the October-November period and the aim of the company to keep selling excess allocation abroad.
Hoa Phat’s prices for SAE HRC for November shipments are now at $895-900/mt CFR, down by $5/mt compared to the level announced in August. The company’s SS400 prices are $5/mt lower. Such a tiny decline after the drop by $35/mt voiced by Formosa has come as a surprise for market sources as local demand has not been showing signs of improvement in Vietnam yet. Prices from Hoa Phat were expected at $885-890/mt CFR as the highest. However, “Vietnam and ASEAN are expected to reopen in October and demand will return,” a local trader from Vietnam commented.
Offers for SAE HRC from Hoa Phat to the ASEAN market are at around $935/mt CFR, sources have said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import HRC in Vietnam has remained at $870-900/mt CFR so far, but the lower end of the range may increase in the near future as the Russian supplier who was offering the attractive prices has been choosing other markets for sales, and has been not ready to provide very low prices to Vietnam.
