Following a significant increase by over $30/mt last month, on May 4 Vietnam’s leading HRC producer, Hoa Phat Group, has announced its new prices for June delivery, increasing them sharply by around $50/mt month on month. The decision to increase prices was largely due to foreign suppliers’ continuous attempts to significantly raise prices, even though demand in the Vietnamese market has remained weak.
Specifically, Hoa Phat’s prices for non-skin passed SAE1006 and SS400 HRC have been announced at VND 15,710-15,740/kg ($596-598/mt) CIF, where the lower end of the range corresponds to prices in northern and central Vietnam, while the higher price is found in the south. Thus, the current price is around $50/mt higher than last month.
However, according to sources, local customers expect discounts of at least $10/mt depending on the order size.
As for the import segment, offers for ex-India SAE1006/SS400 HRC have been voiced at $615/mt CFR, up by $5/mt on the lower end of the range week on week, but rising by at least $50/mt since the beginning of last month. Offers for ex-Indonesia SAE1006 HRC have been voiced at around $600/mt CFR for July shipment, while offers for ex-Japan coils have been estimated at $630/mt CFR, compared to $550/mt CFR in early April. Offers for ex-South Korea SAE1006 have settled at $635/mt CFR, for July shipment.
At the same time, no fresh offers have been voiced for Chinese HRC due to the national holidays until May 6. Furthermore, 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 around $525/mt CFR for July shipment, while deal prices for pickled and oiled coils have been voiced at $575-580/mt CFR levels.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam has settled at $600-610/mt CFR, the same as last week, and compared to $530-540/mt CFR in early April.