Although sources continue to report only occasional deals within Vietnam’s import HRC market, the average spot price range is stable week on week and conditions point to continuous stability throughout the coming weeks despite price fluctuations in China.
More specifically, offers for ex-China Q235/SS400 HRC, which increased by around $5/mt to $545-550/mt CFR at the end of last week, this week have rolled back to $545/mt CFR, mainly for July shipment. At the same time, according to Vietnamese buyers, a few deals were reported at around $542/mt CFR at the beginning of this week. Besides, offers for Q195 HRC have settled at $540/mt CFR, the same as at the beginning of last week. “While Chinese suppliers have kept making rather unsuccessful attempts to raise their HRC export offers, buyers from Vietnam have yet to fully accept the gains in Chinese prices over the recent weeks, mainly given the still weak end-user demand in the market,” a Vietnamese trader told SteelOrbis.
Meanwhile, workable prices for SAE1006 HRC of Chinese origin have remained at $560/mt CFR for July shipment, with a deal for around 8,000 mt reported to have been done at the abovementioned level at the end of last week. “We heard also there was another deal for SAE1006 HRC at $550/mt CFR, but it was because it was for a stock cargo,” a Chinese trader said.
“Most market insiders expect import HRC prices to remain range-bound in the short term when the euphoria over the stimulus measures introduced in China will be exhausted,” another source said.
Other foreign suppliers have been staying out of the Vietnamese market, with indicative offers for ex-India and ex-Japan HRC at $580-590/mt CFR, the same as last week. In fact, while no deals have been heard for ex-India HRC in Vietnam, conversely Vietnamese producers have sold around 65,000 mt of HRC in India at $590-595/mt CFR following the approval of BIS certificates around 10 days ago, according to sources.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC has remained at $560/mt CFR level, the same as last week.
In the meantime, as of May 29, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,879/mt ($535/mt), decreasing by RMB 31/mt ($4.28/mt) since May 22.
$1 = RMB 7.25
