Vietnamese steel producer Formosa Ha Tinh has announced an increase of $65/mt month on month in its local HRC price for March deliveries, supported by the strong market trend in the import segment during most of December. Though lower-priced HRC offers from Chinese traders for position cargoes started to emerge in the market last week and have also been seen this week, most foreign mills, including those in China, have been asking for much above $700/mt CFR in Vietnam, and this has supported the latest move by Formosa.
Formosa Ha Tinh (FHS) has issued its offers for re-rolling grade HRC to local customers at $720-725/mt CFR on average for March shipment, up by $65/mt from last month, SteelOrbis has learned. Prices for SS400 grade HRC for pipe makers are at around $720/mt CFR or slightly below by $3-5/mt.
Before the local HRC price announcement this week, a deal for SAE1006 HRC from India was heard at $720/mt CFR, while most Chinese mills’ offers have been also at $725-730/mt FOB for the same grade and at $720/mt CFR for SS400 grade HRC.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported HRC in Vietnam has been at $695-700/mt CFR, as it is an average between the latest deal price level from Chinese traders ($675-680/mt CFR) and mills’ sales to Vietnam.
