On November 3, Vietnamese HRC producer Hoa Phat Group announced its new prices for January and February delivery, decreasing them by around $8/mt month on month. Although the price correction is small, the decision has been attributed to the slow demand in the country and is in line with market sources’ expectations, as import quotations have failed to recover in new offers.
Specifically, Hoa Phat’s prices for non-skin passed SAE1006 and SS400 HRC for March-April shipment have been announced at VND 13,650-13,680/kg ($519-520/mt) CIF, where the lower end of the range corresponds to prices in northern and central Vietnam, while the higher price is found in the south. Thus, the current price is around $8/mt lower than last month.
The latest offers for ex-China Q235 HRC have been reported at $485-490/mt CFR for December and January shipment, down by $2-3/mt week on week, while bids for Q195 coils have been voiced at $450/mt CFR, down by $5/mt week on week. At the same time, indicative offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have settled at $495-500/mt CFR, the same as last week, while other foreign suppliers have been offering their materials in the range of $495-510/mt CFR.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam has remained at $495-500/mt CFR.
At the same time, as of November 3, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,295/mt ($464/mt), decreasing by RMB 4/mt ($0.6/mt) or 0.1 percent since October 27, while down 0.6 percent compared to the previous trading day, October 31.
$1 = RMB 7.0867