Vietnam’s HRC import market has remained largely subdued over the past week, with trading activity limited and buyers staying on the sidelines amid weak demand. Despite a general upward trend in offers from key suppliers, including China, India and other regional exporters, most Vietnamese customers have not been in a hurry to sign new deals at the newly indicated price levels. Market participants noted that cautious sentiment has continued to weigh on purchasing interest, resulting in minimal price movement overall.
Given the imposition of export licenses in China, traders who had earlier offered their non-VAT material at cheaper prices have left the Vietnamese market, with the indicative offers for ex-China Q235 HRC reported at $495-505/mt CFR for April shipment, versus $485-490/mt CFR last week.
Meanwhile, offers for SAE1006 HRC to Vietnamese re-rollers have been reported at $510/mt CFR and above for ex-India May shipment cargoes, versus $500-502/mt CFR last week. According to sources, talk about two bookings of ex-India HRC signed in Vietnam at around $500-510/mt CFR levels last week has been circulating in the market, though this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication. Furthermore, this week at least two traders said that a large eastern India-based mill has been negotiating a delivery to Vietnam at a price of around $500/mt FOB, but the challenges of finalizing a CIF-based final contract have kept the deal pending for over a week, for an estimated tonnage of 15,000 mt.
Besides, offers for ex-Indonesia SAE1006 HRC have been estimated at around $525/mt CFR, up by $10/mt week on week, while offers for ex-Japan coils have been voiced at $530/mt CFR, up by $15-20/mt since last week.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC has moved to $500-510/mt CFR from $493-500/mt CFR last week, mainly following higher offers for ex-India HRC.
