After indicating a slight increase following the Tet holiday, Vietnamese import scrap market have remained stable in terms of offers received from the supplier regions. However, the bids from Vietnamese producers moved up a bit over the past week, raising hopes that trading is recovering. Meanwhile, Vietnamese players report that the US President Trump’s decision to initiate Section 232 for all steel and aluminium imports means the field is levelled for all players. Vietnamese steel was already facing 25 percent of Section 232 tariff since 2018. With Trump aiming to expand the tariffs to all trading partners, Vietnamese producers are hopeful to be more active in the US market, considering the developments as an opportunity for themselves.
Offers for Japanese H2 scrap to Vietnam are still in the range of $315-320/mt CFR. Vietnamese buyers’ ideas for workable price levels for this grade is now at around $315s/mt CFR.
Ex-US bulk HMS I/II 80:20 scrap offers to Vietnam have also remained unchanged week on week at $345-350/mt CFR.