Although market sentiment in China has weakened this week following a decline in HRC futures prices, most Chinese traders have held their prices firm for Vietnam, with some even raising their offers for Q235 HRC, which is excluded from antidumping duties, by $3–5/mt compared with the previous week. However, Chinese coil imports now face yet another threat as Vietnam’s Trade Remedies Authority has acknowledged a petition from domestic producers seeking an anti-circumvention investigation. The case targets HRC with widths above 1,880 mm and below 2,300 mm, which are alleged to be used to bypass existing tariffs.
More specifically, ex-China offers for 1,900-2,000 mm Q235/SS400 HRC in Vietnam have been voiced at $503-505/mt CFR for November shipment, compared to $497-500/mt CFR last week. Besides, according to sources, at least 20,000 mt of ex-China Q235 HRC for prompt shipment have been booked at $500/mt CFR this week. Meanwhile, indicative offers for SAE1006 HRC from China have settled at $515/mt CFR, the same as last week.
At the same time, imports of Chinese HRC into Vietnam have come under renewed scrutiny over tariff evasion. More specifically, Vietnam’s Trade Remedies Authority has accepted a petition from local producers seeking an anti-circumvention investigation into Chinese HRC imports wider than 1,880 mm but below 2,300 mm. The move comes after Vietnam imposed definitive AD duties of 23.01–27.83 percent on narrower-width coils in July 2025. Petitioners argue that Chinese mills are shipping wider coils, which can later be slit domestically, to evade tariffs and undermine the effectiveness of existing measures. According to Vietnam’s statistics, imports of these wider coils surged to around 832,000 mt in the January-July period this year, 18 times higher year on year, intensifying concerns over tariff avoidance and putting Chinese HRC exports to Vietnam under fresh pressure.
Meanwhile, offers for ex-Indonesia 3,000 mm SAE1006 HRC have settled at $510-512/mt CFR for December shipment, compared to $507/mt CFR last week. Besides, suppliers from South Korea have been offering their coils for November shipment at $515/mt CFR. Furthermore, ex-Malaysia 3,000 mm SAE1006 HRC has been offered at around $510-515/mt CFR for December shipment, the same as last week, while offers from Japan for 1,200 mm SAE1006 HRC have been voiced at $520-525/mt CFR, mainly for December shipment, following a deal for 30,000 mt signed at $512/mt CFR for November shipment last week.
Offers for ex-India coils have been estimated at $520/mt CFR level for November shipment.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has moved to $510-515/mt CFR Vietnam, compared with $507–510/mt CFR last week.
