Vietnamese HRC producer Hoa Phat Group has announced its new local prices for shipments in May, increasing them slightly by around $9/mt month on month. However, according to market insiders, the price increase is mainly supported by the recent announcement of antidumping duties against Chinese HRC, while the price trend for import coils has been failing to show any significant recovery with HRC offers from Chinese suppliers remaining mainly at the same levels as last week, while other foreign suppliers, from India in particular, have agreed to provide discounts in new deals.
More specifically, on March 3, new prices from Hoa Phat Group for non-skin passed SAE1006 and SS400 HRC for May shipment have settled at VND 13,210-13,240/kg ($516-517/mt) CIF, where the lower end of the range corresponds to the price in northern and central Vietnam, while the higher price is found in the south. This means the current prices have increased by around $9/mt month on month. “The increase in new offers, even though it’s very slight, has improved sentiments among market players to some extent for prices in March, but most believe it was due only to AD duties and consequent difficulties in obtaining Chinese materials, which favored the local producer,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
In the meantime, most offer for import HRC have been moving sideways, coming to $480/mt CFR on average for ex-China Q235 HRC, mainly the same as last week. At the same time, while no firm offers have been voiced for ex-China SAE1006 HRC, market insiders have reported several deals for ex-India HRC signed at $505/mt CFR, compared to initial offers at $520/mt CFR, while new bids have been already voiced at as low as $495/mt CFR. Thus, on March 3, the SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC has settled at $495-505/mt CFR, up by $5/mt on the higher end of the range week on week.
Meanwhile, as of March 3, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange have settled at RMB 3,412/mt ($476/mt), decreasing by RMB 19/mt ($2.6/mt) or 0.55 percent since February 24, while remaining stable compared to the previous trading day, February 28.
$1 = RMB 7.1745
