Import hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in Vietnam have kept going down this week on more aggressive bids and lower offers from India and Russia. A deal for 3,000-5,000 mt of Indian HRC has been done by trader at $418/mt CFR Hai Phong, for December shipment. “Though we are not ready to give this price, the market is there at the moment,” an Indian seller said. Offers for Indian SAE1006 HRC have been heard from several sources at $420/mt CFR, SteelOrbis learned on Tuesday.
Tight competition between major exporters and the lack of demand globally have been the main reasons of the ongoing downtrend. Ex-Russia prices for big coils have also moved down to $420/mt CFR for January shipment, so by $5/mt below the lowest level heard last week. Seeing lower offers, bid prices have also declined to $410/mt CFR.
Offers for Japanese and South Korean HRC have been at $430-440/mt CFR Vietnam.
As a result, SteelOrbis reference price for SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam has lost $7-10/mt to $418-420/mt CFR this week.
Prices for Chinese HRC have remained higher than offers from most other countries. Prices for SS400 HRC from Chinese traders have been heard at $445-450/mt CFR Vietnam as the lowest.