Import HRC prices in Vietnam have continued to fluctuate this week following ups and downs in HRC futures prices in China and continuous changes in mood among suppliers. At the same time, market insiders report a slight demand recovery in Vietnam, with several deals for import HRC signed with additional discounts this week.
More specifically, on Thursday, March 27, ex-China Q235 2,000 mm HRC offers, which are not targeted by antidumping (AD) duty, have been voiced at $473-475/mt CFR mainly for end-of-May shipment, down by $2-3/mt week on week. At the same time, according to sources, during the past seven days several deals for around 20,000 mt in total of ex-China 2,000 mm Q235 have been signed at $470-475/mt CFR, for May shipment. Besides, offers for ex-China Q355 HRC and SAE1006 HRC have been estimated at $490/mt CFR and $490-495/mt CFR, respectively, down by $5/mt week on week.
Meanwhile, other foreign suppliers have been more active with new offers in Vietnam given less competition with Chinese SAE1006 HRC suppliers due to AD duty. Thus, offers for ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC have been voiced at $520-530/mt CFR, while most bids have been reported at $510/mt CFR and a deal for around 5,000 mt is reported to have been signed at $508/mt CFR for May shipment.
Offers from ex-Indonesia SAE1006 HRC have been reported at $530/mt CFR for June shipment, compared to $510-520/mt CFR last week. Besides, suppliers from South Korea and Taiwan have also returned to the Vietnamese market with new offers at $520/mt CFR for May shipment, though no new deals have been reported so far since, according to sources, buyers’ bids have been at $510/mt CFR and slightly below.
As a result, the SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC has moved to $490-510/mt CFR, with the lower end of the range corresponding to the most competitive offers from China, while the higher end corresponds to the tradable price from other foreign suppliers.