This week has brought another price increase in Vietnam’s HRC import market amid further increases in Chinese prices. At the same time, apart from China, other suppliers like those from Russia and India have been offering their materials in Vietnam at lower levels but have failed to attract buyers due to the payment problems in case of Russia and lower than usual quality HRC in the case of India.
Accordingly, Chinese traders, who offered SS400 HRC at $745-750/mt CFR last week, have increased their offers to $760-765/mt CFR. Besides, several deals have been reported at $758-760/mt CFR for August shipment. Meanwhile, Vietnamese buyers have reported offers for ex-China SEA1006 HRC at $765-780/mt CFR, up $5-10/mt from last week. No deals have been heard, though, according to market insiders, the customers are in negotiations.
Furthermore, this week, offers for ex-Russia HRC have been reported at around $745/mt CFR Vietnam. However, despite quite competitive ex-Russia prices, no deals have been reported in Vietnam as, according to market insiders, “even if Vietnamese customers want to buy Russian HRC, it is very difficult to do because Vietnamese banks do not open LCs,” a source said. “We are hearing more and more Russian offers in Southeast Asia, but, in contrast to Indonesia where the customers booked ex-Russia materials at around $670/mt CFR level, Vietnam is not buying due to the payment problems,” a Vietnam-based trader told SteelOrbis.
Meanwhile, this week, Indian HRC suppliers, traders mainly, have come out with new offers for boron-added coils at $745/mt CFR Vietnam, down by $3-5/mt week on week. However, usual non-alloy ex-India SAE1006 HRC have been offered in Vietnam at around $800/mt CFR level, which is considered to be “overpriced”. “Boron-added material is only good for pipe makers, but Vietnamese mills who use HRC to make CRC and HDG and are focused on exports to the EU and the US are not interested in low quality coils. Besides, most mills prefer not to try new material and play with quality during this tough time,” a representative of a Vietnamese mill told SteelOrbis.
Other foreign suppliers like those from Japan and Taiwan have continued to stay out of the Vietnamese market.
The SteelOrbis’ reference price for import SAE1006 has moved to $765-780/mt CFR, compared to $760-770/mt CFR last week, considering the recent offers coming from China.
