One of the major mills in Vietnam, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS), has announced new HRC prices for July-August delivery, cutting them by $22/mt month on month, following the decline voiced by Hoa Phat Group on Monday this week. Though the overall decline looks higher than that announced by Hoa Phat ($13/mt), in fact the gap between the two mills’ local quotations is still small, as Formosa adjusted prices down by $8/mt in mid-May.
FHS’s new prices for non-skin passed SAE1006 and SS400 HRC are at 15,280-15,550/kg ($579-589/mt) CIF, where the lower end of the range corresponds to orders above 20,000 mt. For 5,000-10,000 mt volumes, the price stands at $585/mt CIF, while for orders of less than 2,000 mt it is at $589/mt CIF.
As reported earlier this week, Hoa Phat’s local HRC prices have settled at $583-584/mt CIF for this month.
In the import market, the slow downtrend has continued. The latest offers for ex-India SAE1006 HRC are at $560-570/mt CFR, but bids have already been heard at $550-560/mt CFR for a mixture of SAE1006 and SS400. No new deals have been heard after the sale of SAE1006 at $575-576/mt CFR Vietnam.
At the same time, while official offer prices from the Indonesian mill have been coming at $572/mt CFR, some offers from traders have already been reported at $565-568/mt CFR today, June 4. Last week, ex-Indonesia prices were not below $575/mt CFR
“Buyers are looking at below $560/mt CFR now for SAE and the market is heading there,” an Asian trader said.
As for Chinese HRC origin, even though offers and sales after AD duty are still limited, a deal for 10,000 mt of Q195 HRC has been heard at $506/mt CFR for July shipment, which is almost in line with deals for this grade at $505-508/mt CFR reported last week. Indications for Q235 grade are generally at $515-525/mt CFR, but $510/mt CFR has also been assessed as “possible for non-VAT”.
An offer for Chinese SPHC pickled and oiled coils has been heard at $570/mt CFR, down by $7/mt from the level in the previous small-volume deal signed a week ago. Some small volume for this grade from China has been traded at this level for August shipment.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam has settled at $560-572/mt CFR, with the midpoint at $566/mt CFR, which is down by $6.5/mt from last week.
