Prices for HRC in the Asian market have ended the week with another hike, supported by rising local and export prices in China and higher buying indications from customers in the major import markets like Vietnam.
The average HRC price in the domestic market in China has reached a new high at RMB 4,520/mt ($691/mt) ex-warehouse on Friday, December 11, up by RMB 75/mt ($11.5/mt) on the day and rising by a total of RMB 175/mt ($27/mt) in the space of two days. Such a sharp rise comes amid surging costs due to the significant hike in iron ore prices and very strong sentiment in the market, while demand has not shown an improvement in China, traders have told SteelOrbis.
As a result, the tradable value for ex-China SS400 HRC in the export market has increased further, to $620-625/mt FOB, versus $600-605/mt FOB earlier this week. Bids from Vietnam have been reported at $630-635/mt CFR for this grade.
In the Vietnamese market, the tradable value for SAE1006 HRC from China has reached $660/mt CFR by the end of the week, according to local sources and, though some customers have kept bidding at $645-650/mt CFR, there are no such offers any more. As SteelOrbis reported in the middle of the week, ex-China coils were being traded at $645-650/mt CFR.
But Chinese producers are offering SAE1006 HRC at $660-680/mt CFR at the moment and some of them even closer to $700/mt CFR. “Japan offers for SAE1006 are at $700-705/mt CFR Vietnam. We don’t know what to expect,” a trader told SteelOrbis on Thursday. Another source has reported offers for ex-Japan and ex-S. Korea HRC at $720/mt CFR on Friday. The same offer is available from Taiwan, which is equivalent to $700/mt FOB.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported HRC in Vietnam has increased to $650-660/mt CFR, taking into account the latest deals and the higher tradable level by the end of the week, up by $10/mt since the middle of the week and up $25-30/mt from late last week.
$1 = RMB 6.5405