Although import prices for HRC in the Vietnamese market have continued to decrease this week, with suppliers from China being the most aggressive, local producer Formosa Ha Tinh has announced only small cuts in its new HRC offers for May-June shipments. The limited correction is below most Vietnamese customers’ expectations, with the gap between Formosa’s prices and ex-China prices widening to $35/mt for SAE1006 HRC and to over $60/mt for SS400 HRC.
More specifically, on March 13, FHS’s prices for non-skin passed SAE 1006 and SS400 HRC in the local market for May-June shipments were cut by only $2-5/mt since the last revision in late February and were down by $15/mt as compared to initially announced offers, and are now standing at $593-600/mt CIF Vietnam ports. Meanwhile, skin-passed SAE1006 coils have settled at $598-605/mt CIF, down by $15/mt month on month.
According to most sources, new offers from Formosa are at rather high levels given the continuous bearishness mounting in China. “On the one hand, there is more focus on exports given poor demand in Vietnam: for instance, ex-Vietnam HRC offers to southern Europe are the most competitive among all suppliers at €590-600/mt CFR. On the other hand, FHS will negotiate deal prices with local customers, providing discounts for big buyers as usual,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
In the meantime, according to sources, following almost 100,000 mt of ex-China Q235/SS400 HRC booked in Vietnam at $535-538/mt CFR since last Friday, March 8, by Wednesday, March 13, new deals have already been reported at $525-535/mt CFR mainly for May shipment. This means deal prices for ex-China pipe-making HRC have lost around $10-12/mt since the beginning of last week.
However, while more deals for pipe-making HRC have been reported at lower levels this week, Vietnamese re-rollers have remained rather restrained in terms of new SAE1006 HRC purchases. Most offers for ex-China SAE 1006 HRC have decreased to $560-570/mt CFR, down by $10-20/mt week on week. “We heard the lowest offers from Magang at $560/mt CFR, but with no deals so far,” a Chinese trader told SteelOrbis.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has moved to $560-565/mt CFR, versus $580-590/mt CFR last week, based mainly on the most attractive offers from China, while other suppliers have remained out of the market.
“There is almost no trade in the SAE1006 segment as Q195/SS400 HRC is significantly cheaper, while local demand is still poor. Customers are scared to make new bookings in this market,” a representative of the Vietnamese mill said.
