Prices for imported HRC have dropped again this week in Vietnam as competition among suppliers from India and China has tightened and demand has not picked up much. Deal prices have been heard at $490-500/mt CFR for September shipment, which is $5-10/mt below last week’s prices, SteelOrbis was informed. A few deals for not-large volumes have been concluded by Chinese traders at $495-500/mt CFR this week. Indian mills, suffering from weak local sales, have been ready to sell to Vietnam at $495/mt CFR and a bit lower. Some ex-India sales have been made, but for volumes which were still not large. Most Vietnamese buyers have been insisting on bigger discounts for large volumes.
Offers from Brazil were heard at $505/mt CFR Vietnam, down $5/mt from last week, while no official offers have been heard from Russia.
It is likely that the downtrend in the Vietnamese HRC market will continue in the second half of August, most market participants agree. Weaker prices in the local markets in China and India together with the depreciation of currencies in both countries will lead to lower export offers. Moreover, market participants are expecting the announcement of local HRC prices by Vietnamese producer Formosa Ha Tinh soon, which are likely to go down after such low transactions prices for imported coils.
At the same time, if iron ore prices stabilize in the near future, this will help import HRC prices to sustain their current levels next week before another round of declines in prices.