Amid slower sales, the price uptrend in the local Vietnamese rebar market has slowed down. Vietnamese producers are inclined to reject higher scrap offers. “It is difficult for mills to follow the upward trend,” a source commented. As a result, the current week has been silent in terms of trading, particularly for bulk cargoes. The gap between bids and offers is still considered to be large. A Vietnamese source stated, “Only some induction furnaces which are short of high-grade scrap prefer to buy HS and shindachi grades from Japan.” The increased prices levels recorded in the Kanto tender done today, March 9, have little impact on the Vietnamese scrap market, sources commented, due to the current situation in the steel segment. It is known that, due to the safeguard tax, Vietnam is unable to choose billet in production as an alternative to scrap.
Japanese bulk H2 scrap offers to Vietnam were around at $450-455/mt CFR earlier this week. As of today, offers for this grade have reached $460/mt CFR, while a producer has shared bids at $440/mt CFR. A Japanese source reported that bids earlier this week were at around $450/mt CFR, without any deals closed. As compared to last week, offers for Japanese H2 grade have increased by $5-10/mt.
A Vietnamese buyer concluded an ex-US containerized HMS I/II 80:20 scrap deal last week at $435/mt CFR. No ex-US bulk HMS I/II 80:20 scrap deal was done this week, while offers were at around $455/mt CFR last week. Meanwhile, SteelOrbis has learned that indications for ex-US bulk HMS I/II 80:20 scrap to South Korea stand at $470/mt CFR.
Offers for Japanese HS and shindachi grades to Vietnam are now at $490/mt CFR. Last week, bulk deals for these grades were closed in the range of $475-480/mt CFR by Vietnamese buyers. A Vietnamese source commented, “But it seems the maximum acceptable levels for these grades are at $480-485/mt CFR. We are not sure if anyone can get materials at such levels.”
Ex-Hong Kong HMS 50:50 scrap is also offered at $450-455/mt CFR Vietnam, while this level is higher than the level of $435/mt CFR seen on February 23.