The second largest HRC producer in Vietnam, Hoa Phat Group, announced its new local prices for HRC for shipments in August and September on July 3, hiking them slightly by $8/mt month on month. The new prices of the company reflect positive sentiments in terms of the price trend among market players given recent hikes in import HRC prices. However, the future trend still lacks clarity, as, while Chinese mills are increasing their offers in Vietnam, lower offers from Chinese traders have continued to appear in the country.
The new prices for Hoa Phat Group for SAE1006 and SS400 HRC for shipments in August and September have been announced at VND 13,700-13,730/kg ($578-581/mt) CIF, where the lower end of the range corresponds to the prices in northern and central Vietnam, with the higher price in the south. Thus, the current prices are $8/mt higher than last month.
The decision to slightly increase the prices have been followed by ex-China HRC price increases, though there is a huge gap between Chinese mills’ offers and traders’ offers.
More specifically, while offers for ex-China SS400 HRC from mills have been heard at as high as $580/mt CFR Vietnam, offers from traders have been reported at $540-550/mt CFR, as compared to last week’s deal price at $540/mt CFR for around 10,000 mt of ex-China materials. Meanwhile, prices for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been coming from mills at $590/mt CFR and above this week. However, the tradable level has been estimated by most Vietnamese buyers at $575/mt CFR, the same as last week, amid lower position offers from traders and smaller mills.
“There are rumours in the market about several deals signed at $568-570/mt CFR for 70,000 mt of ex-China SAE1006 HRC last week, but there is no official confirmation so far, since, although the price is attractive, we doubt such a big volume was bought as demand leaves much to be desired,” a local trader told SteelOrbis.
Meanwhile, HRC offers for other origins have remained extremally limited in Vietnam, with indicative offers for ex-Japan and ex-Taiwan SAE1006 HRC estimated at $595-600/mt CFR.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC has remained at $575/mt CFR, the same as last week, based on the most attractive offers coming from Chinese traders.