Prices for imported HRC in Vietnam have increased again this week, following higher offers announced by major suppliers, and the increase of $10-15/mt has been confirmed in fresh bookings from China.
A first-tier mill from China has managed to sell 40,000 mt of re-rolling SAE1006 HRC at $575-580/mt CFR lately, while the previous booking for Chinese coils of similar grade was at $565/mt CFR late last week. Another smaller volume deal also for Chinese HRC has been heard at $570-575/mt CFR this week in Vietnam. “Bids exceeded $570/mt CFR, and it is hard to find re-rolling grade HRC at cheap prices,” a trader said.
Offers from Japan and S. Korea have already reached $600/mt CFR, up by $20/mt. No firm offers have been heard from India, but sources said that if they offer the price level would not be below $585/mt CFR.
Customers have been able to buy HRC in the local market, but the supply volume has also been limited there, which has forced buyers to accept higher import prices. Formosa Ha Tinh started to offer re-rolling grade SAE006 HRC to local customers at $560/mt CFR and above up to $565/mt CFR last week. Offers from Hoa Phat have been heard at $545-550/mt CFR, but only for a limited number of customers within the scope of trial shipments.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam has been settled at $575-580/mt CFR, up by $12.5/mt on average from late last week.