The situation in Vietnam’s import hot rolled coil (HRC) market has started to change this week following the more positive sentiments of Chinese suppliers caused by futures price growth in China and the rapid change in the global trade environment after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Accordingly, on Friday, February 25, Chinese traders sold a few position cargoes for around 20,000 mt in total of ex-China SS400 HRC to Vietnam at $800-805/mt CFR, down by $10-15/mt compared to the previous deals. Subsequently, new Chinese offers have increased to $828-830/mt CFR Vietnam on Monday, February 28. Meanwhile, offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been heard at $850-880/mt CFR, compared to $850-860/mt CFR last week. This increase was driven by the sharp growth in futures prices, up by RMB 156/mt ($25/mt) over the past two days. As a result, domestic HRC prices in China have increased as well, to RMB 4,940/mt ($783/mt) ex-warehouse, up by RMB 95/mt ($15/mt) on February 28, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
“Today in Vietnam, most pending offers of HRC are being withdrawn and allocations are declining. No one knows what the price situation will be tomorrow, as the market is so crazy due to the war. Since Russia is under sanctions, we think that steel and iron ore supply will be in shortage and steel prices will also rise sharply, together with inflation,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
Meanwhile, Indian and Japanese HRC offers have continued to be totally out of the range of Vietnamese buyers’ interest. The latest offers for HRC ex-Indian mills have been reported at $910-920/mt CFR, while the indicative offer level for Japanese coils has been heard at $920-950/mt CFR Vietnam.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has moved to $850-860/mt CFR, compared to $840-850/mt CFR last week, considering the stronger sentiments in China.