Vietnam’s import HRC market has continued to see reduced activity from Chinese suppliers over the past week amid the implementation of export licensing requirements and the continued impact of antidumping duties. Many Chinese traders who had previously supplied non-VAT material have withdrawn from the Vietnamese market, resulting in a sharp decline in available offers for standard commercial grades, like Q235. As a result, supply of these grades has increasingly shifted toward domestic producers as well as alternative import sources, particularly India.
More specifically, given the imposition of export licenses in China, Chinese traders who had earlier offered their non-VAT material at cheaper prices have left the Vietnamese market, with the latest indicative offers for ex-China Q235 HRC reported at $485-490/mt CFR for February shipment, mainly the same as last week. However, according to sources, these price levels have been mainly indicative, as most Chinese traders have stopped offering both Q235 and even Q195 HRC, as well as SAE1006 HRC, due to antidumping duty. “We are only hearing some Chinese offers for checkered coils and hot rolled plates (HRP),” a Vietnamese trader told SteelOrbis. In particular, offers for ex-China Q235B 3-10 mm checkered coil have been voiced at $487/mt CFR, while offers for HRP have settled at $488/mt CFR. According to sources, offers for ex-China 3-16 mm HRC have been heard at $479/mt CFR, without AD duty.
At the same time, other foreign suppliers have been offering SAE1006 HRC in the range of $487-505/mt CFR, mainly the same as last week. According to sources, offers for ex-India SAE1006/SS400 HRC have settled at $487-493/mt CFR for late March-April shipment, though lower offers at $484-485/mt CFR for late March shipment have also been circulating in the market.
Furthermore, offers for ex-Indonesia SAE1006 HRC have remained at around $495/mt CFR mainly for April shipment, while offers from Japan have settled at $500/mt CFR for March shipment, down by $5/mt week on week.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has settled at $484-490/mt CFR, versus $488-490/mt CFR last week.