Although the general mood in the import HRC segment has been far from positive this week and local demand for steel in Vietnam has remained weak, Vietnamese steel producer Formosa Ha Tinh (FHS) has announced its new local HRC prices for November and December shipments mostly at the same levels as in September or only $3-4/mt higher. The new prices are viewed by most local buyers as slightly overpriced given the recent drop in ex-China HRC offers and more competitive offers from other Asian suppliers, but they also give hope for some recovery in import prices this month.
On October 15, FHS announced its new prices for non-skin passed SAE1006 and SS400 HRC in the local market at $522/mt CIF, for orders for a minimum of 20,000 mt, up by $3/mt compared to the level seen in September. For 10,000-20,000 mt orders, the price has settled at $525/mt CIF, versus $522/mt CIF before. For smaller volumes of 5,000-10,000 mt, 2,000-5,000 mt and below 2,000 mt of HRC, the buyers will have to pay $528/mt CIF, $530/mt CIF and $532/mt CIF, respectively. All prices are for November-December shipments.
The current prices from Formosa for the local market for large volumes are around $2-5/mt lower than those from the other major Vietnamese producer Hoa Phat Group ($527-528/mt CIF).
As for the import market in Vietnam, offers for ex-China 2,000 mm Q235 HRC, which are not targeted by AD duty, have been reported at $483-485/mt CFR for December shipment compared to $490-492/mt CFR last week. At the same time, sources reported several deals this week for ex-China Q235 HRC, including around 5,000 mt concluded at the beginning of the week at $486/mt CFR Vietnam, and another deal yesterday, October 14, at $483/mt CFR. Besides, following a transaction for 20,000 mt of Q195 HRC at $468/mt CFR last week, new offers have fallen to around $450-455/mt CFR.
Other import prices for SAE1006 HRC have been estimated at $508-520/mt CFR, depending on the supplier, mainly the same as last week. The lower end of the range corresponds to ex-Indonesia HRC deal prices at $508/mt CFR for around 5,000-10,000 mt booked last week. At the same time, market chatter emerged about a deal for around 30,000 mt of ex-India HRC reportedly concluded at $495-498/mt CFR Vietnam, as SteelOrbis reported earlier. Offers from Malaysia and Japan have been estimated at $515-520/mt CFR, the same as last week.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has moved to $495-505/mt CFR Vietnam, compared with $505-508/mt CFR yesterday.
