The situation in the Vietnamese import HRC market has worsened further as lower prices for ex-China material have started to be seen. As a result, local customers are waiting for a sharper decline to be announced by the local producer Hoa Phat, compared to earlier expectations.
A deal for ex-China SAE1006 HRC for January shipment has been done at $830-840/mt CFR late last week, down from a contract signed by a large mill for the same shipment at $850/mt CFR earlier.
For February shipment and beyond, traders have been offering SAE1006 coils at $810-820/mt CFR, but “buyers do not want to take risks,” a local source said.
“Nobody wants to buy now as the market may fall further,” an Asian source said.
In the Chinese local market, average HRC price has declined further – by RMB 120/mt ($19/mt) since Friday to RMB 4,735/mt ($741/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis. This has increased expectations that the declining trend in the export market will also continue in the near future.
As a result, Vietnamese buyers have been waiting for deeper cuts from Hoa Phat Group. Last week, the expectations were that the producer will give $850/mt CFR as the lowest, down from $895-900/mt CFR last month. But now “targets are up to $20/mt lower,” a market source said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC has declined by $5/mt on average since late last week to $830-840/mt CFR.
