Interest in buying imported HRC has increased in Vietnam recently as prices have been going up continuously and customers have been worrying about a possible further increase next week. Chinese HRC has remained the best option for Vietnamese importers. New prices from the local producer Formosa Ha Tinh are expected next week.
According to sources, in total up to 60,000 mt of SAE1006 HRC from Baosteel have been sold to Vietnam at $627/mt CFR. While a further booking of the same grade has been already heard at $630-635/mt CFR for 20,000-30,000 mt in Vietnam. This was in addition to more than one deal at $620/mt CFR reported earlier this week.
New offers from large sellers from China for SAE1006 HRC have been heard at $635-643/mt CFR Vietnam on Friday, December 4. Local HRC prices have been stronger lately and the outlook has not been as bad as for longs, and so exporters have been not willing to stop in their attempts to reach higher prices overseas.
“Indian mills are definitely out. They'll either sell locally or to Europe where they get better realizations compared to Vietnam,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
No new offers have been reported from Japan, S. Korea and Taiwan, with the latest of them being at $650-660/mt CFR Vietnam. But sources believe that they could be increased next week, taking into account the bullish sentiment in the global market. For instance, one Japanese steel mill has been offering at $675-680/mt FOB to Europe.
“We expect Formosa to release new prices. Of course, they will be sharply up, but they will start sales for February,” a local source said.
The SteelOrbis reference price level has been settled at $620-635/mt CFR with the midpoint at $627.5/mt CFR by the end of the week, which is $5-8/mt above the assessment earlier this week and $20-35/mt above the level of last week.
