The first working day after the Chinese New Year Holiday has brought the expected price increases to Vietnam’s HRC import market. However, Vietnamese importers are mostly evaluating the situation for now and plan to resume purchases when the trend becomes clear, as expected by the end of this week.
Market sources said that only a few Chinese mills have announced their new offers for SS400 HRC at $800-810/mt FOB today, up by $20/mt over the past two weeks, while most mills have not come up with new offers so far. One rumor was heard about a contract for Chinese SS400 HRC at $820/mt CFR Vietnam, but most sources could not confirm this. In the meantime, Vietnamese buyers have reported an offer for SAE1006 HRC from a large Chinese mill at $860/mt CFR, up by around $20-30/mt over the past two weeks. This growth was expected given the recovery in the Chinese domestic market. In particular, domestic HRC prices in China are at RMB 4,980/mt ($783/mt) ex-warehouse on February 7, up by RMB 95/mt ($15/mt) as compared to January 28, according to SteelOrbis’ data. “There are only a few offers from China, so we are waiting for more suppliers to return to the market in the next few days. We actually expect new prices for SAE1006 HRC at around $845-850/mt CFR, but let’s see,” a Vietnam-based source said.
Meanwhile, some offers for ex-India SAE1006 HRC have been reported at $870/mt CFR for mainly April shipment, but Vietnamese customers said that they will negotiate at $850/mt CFR. The last ex-India HRC offers for March shipment were heard at $810-820/mt CFR before the holiday.
An offer from Japan for SAE1006 HRC has been heard at $870/mt CFR, up by around $20/mt from initial expectations and at least $70/mt higher than offers at the end of January.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE 1006 HRC has been increased by $40-50/mt over the past two weeks to $850/mt CFR given the expectations for the future workable price level in Vietnam.