After an increase of $20/mt announced by Vietnamese steelmaker Formosa Ha Tinh Steel in its HRC prices last week, another local Vietnamese mill Hoa Phat Group has also raised its prices. The price increase is lower than initially expected given the falling HRC offers from Chinese mills and traders.
The new prices from Hoa Phat Group for SAE1006 and SS400 HRC for shipment in June and beyond have been settled at $920-925/mt CIF, where the lower level corresponds to the price in the north, with the highest price in the south. Current prices are around $15/mt higher on average than last month.
This move by Hoa Phat Group has followed the $20/mt price increase by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel to $950/mt CFR for SAE1006 HRC (non-skin passed) announced on April 14. The current domestic prices of Hoa Phat Group are almost at the same level as those from China. In particular, the latest offers for ex-China SAE1006 for June shipment were at $900-920/mt CFR and some customers were also seeing low-priced position offers for SS400 HRC from traders at $855-875/mt CFR at the end of last week.