Hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have increased slightly in deals to Vietnam, while Chinese suppliers have voiced higher offers as well, but sentiment has worsened this week as most customers have been resisting a further increase and trading activity has been subdued. Moreover, local Chinese demand for HRC has started to show signs of weakening, with spot prices gradually going down over the past few days.
A deal for about 20,000 mt of ex-India HRC was signed at $457/mt CFR early this week, while the highest transaction level was $455/mt CFR during the week ended November 21. Most offers from India for SAE1008 HRC have been heard at $460-465/mt CFR Vietnam this week, up $5/mt week on week. Ex-Russia HRC has been also available at $460/mt CFR for February shipment, while offers ex-China, ex-South Korea and ex-Japan have been above $470/mt CFR and as high as $480/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned. But a trader said that “the market has become more calm,” as most customers have almost finished restocking and can wait.
Chinese mills have increased export prices by a further $5-10/mt to $460-470/mt FOB for SS400. But a decline is inevitable in the near future, most sources said, as local Chinese prices have started to go down amid less demand in the southern part of the country. The average spot HRC price in China has lost RMB 30/mt ($4/mt) since Monday this week, coming to RMB 3,760/mt ($537/mt), according to SteelOrbis’ data.