Offer prices for imported HRC in Vietnam have almost remained at last week’s level and customers have been cautious in purchases, expecting a further decline in price after the Chinese holiday. At the same time, Vietnamese producer Formosa Ha Tinh has started to sell HRC to Europe, widening its presence in the export market.
As SteelOrbis reported earlier, the bookings for SAE1006 HRC from China were done by traders at $515-520/mt CFR last week and no new deals have been reported so far. Traders and at least one large steel mill have been offering at $515-520/mt CFR, while offers have been reported at $520-535/mt CFR from some other producers. “Some buyers were bidding below $500/mt CFR Vietnam. We are still waiting for signals from the market,” a local source said.
Bids for Russian big coils have been heard at $500-505/mt CFR, $5/mt below last week. The supplier was offering at $515/mt CFR earlier.
S. Korean and Japanese HRC can be found by buyers at $540/mt CFR minimum, slightly lower than last week, but still much higher than Chinese prices, sources said. Official offers from mills in these countries have remained higher.
Indian suppliers have been almost absent from the Vietnamese market as their offers at $540/mt CFR at the lowest have been uncompetitive.
At the same time, while Vietnamese customers have slowed down import activity, the main producer in the country Formosa Ha Tinh has been attempting to widen its sales in the export market. As a result, Vietnam's Formosa Ha Tinh has managed to sell its first HRC cargo to Europe. In particular, 30,000 mt of HRC have been traded to an Italian producer at €475-480/mt CFR, which is slightly above $555/mt CFR. This is the first big sale of HRC from Vietnam to the EU and this cooperation may continue, according to sources. Traders said that at least 60,000 mt of HRC have been on offer.
As SteelOrbis earlier, Formosa Ha Tinh made its first export sales of HRC to China in July. Nevertheless, domestic sales are still the priority for the producer.