Although import prices for hot rolled coil (HRC) have moved up slightly over the past week in Vietnam given the better mood in China amid the recovery of HRC futures prices, local producer Formosa Ha Tinh Steel has decided to decrease its prices to attract domestic customers given the extremely slow demand in Vietnam.
Specifically, ex-China Q235/SS400 offers in Vietnam have been voiced at around $540-545/mt CFR, up by $5-7/mt week on week, while a few deals have been reported for ex-China Q196 HRC at $530-535/mt CFR, against $530/mt CFR last week. Besides, offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been estimated at $560/mt CFR, versus $555/mt CFR heard last week.
Furthermore, offers for ex-Japan and ex-India SAE1006 HRC have been estimated at $590/mt CFR and $580-585/mt CFR, respectively, while suppliers from South Korea have been out of the Vietnamese market.
“Demand is very slow, but in the end, if people cannot source from elsewhere at an old price, they have to accept a new higher price,” a Vietnamese trader said.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC has moved to $560/mt CFR, against $555/mt CFR last week. “Actually, we need to consider both supply and demand. Since demand is still stable at a weak level while real production is higher and higher, we need to buy back-to-back mainly. There is no speculation during this time,” a mill’s reprehensive told SteelOrbis.
In the meantime, this week local producer FHS has lowered its offers by around $15/mt to $580-590/mt CIF Vietnam ports for non-skin passed SAE1006 and SS400 and to $585-595/mt CIF for skin-passed SAE1006 HRC. Thus, its offer prices have rolled back to last month’s levels. “Formosa decreased its offers by around $15/mt, but in the end the deal price is negotiated with each customer separately,” a FHS representative told SteelOrbis.
