Vietnamese steel producer Formosa Ha Tinh has today, February 1, announced its new prices for local HRC for April deliveries. Its prices have remained stable compared to the previous month, even despite the low-priced import deals from China which were done in the Vietnamese market over the past few weeks.
Formosa Ha Tinh (FHS) has issued its offers for re-rolling grade HRC to local customers at $720-725/mt CFR on average, stable month on month after a $65/mt increase in January, SteelOrbis has learned. “Different customers received prices from Formosa at $718-725/mt CFR for SAE1006,” a trader said. Prices for SS400 grade HRC for pipe makers are at around $715-720/mt CFR.
Such a move has been explained by high raw material costs and the absence of aggressive price moves from any HRC suppliers except for Chinese traders and some mills, according to market sources. Moreover, there has been a rumour about a possible cut of the export tax rebate for Chinese HRC from 13 percent to 8 percent, which will hurt the profitability of sellers from China and may lead to higher export prices. Though there is still no official confirmation about this cut, market sources are watching the situation closely.
For now, the SteelOrbis reference price for imported HRC (reflecting the latest deals from China) is staying at $645-655/mt CFR, stable compared to late last week.
