Vietnamese flat steel market trends sideways

Flat steel demand in the Vietnamese domestic market has remained weak, despite the government's decision to cut interest rates in order to liven up domestic demand.
 
After the softening in previous weeks, hot rolled coil (HRC) domestic prices in Vietnam have remained unchanged as compared to last week at VND 14.9-15 million/mt ($655-660/mt + VAT), inclusive of VAT. In the meantime, cold rolled coil (CRC) prices in the local Vietnamese market have also remained stable at VND 19-19.1 million/mt ($815-820/mt + VAT), including VAT.
 
On the import side, although Chinese suppliers have tried to push up their HRC offers to Vietnam from last week's price level of $640-650/mt CFR to $650-655/mt CFR, no transaction has been heard so far at the increased price levels. Japanese and South Korean HRC offers to the country have continued to trend sideways at $700-710/mt CFR.
 
$1 = VND 20,600