Although most Chinese suppliers have been trying to maintain their export HRC offers, several mills have corrected their offers down slightly as business activity remained weak, while more deals at cheaper prices have been reported from non-VAT traders in Vietnam. At the same time, affected by cheap imports from China and complicated trade conditions in Europe due to safeguard quota, Vietnamese HRC producer has sold significant volumes in India. European HRC market has remained slow in terms of trade while both local and import prices have remained relatively stable over the past week. Meanwhile, trade activity in the Gulf region and Turkey has been close to zero amid holidays.
Although most Chinese suppliers have been trying to maintain their offers, several mills have corrected their offers down slightly this week as business activity remained slow. Export offers for boron-added SS400 HRC given by major Chinese mills are at $525-535/mt FOB, with a midpoint at $530/mt FOB, down by $5/mt week on week. Meanwhile, offers form smaller mills have been voiced at $520-525/mt FOB, mainly the same as last week, though offers from traders, especially without VAT have been voiced in Vietnam at around $510-515/mt FOB, down by $5/mt week on week. Thus, the tradable prices for SS400 HRC have settled at $510-520/mt FOB, against $515-525/mt FOB last week. Besides, offers from Chinese suppliers in the Middle East have been estimated at $560-570/mt CFR, against $570-575/mt CFR last week. According to sources, several deals were signed at $525/mt FOB in the UAE at the end of last week, which translates to around $565/mt CFR.
In Vietnam, following the continuous fluctuations of import HRC prices mainly caused by ups and downs in futures and local prices in China, Vietnamese customers have kept insisting on discounts, and as a result have secured several batches of ex-China Q195 HRC through non-VAT traders at slower levels this week. Specifically, while offers for ex-China SS400/Q235 HRC in Vietnam have been still heard at $530-535/mt CFR, the tradable price level has decreased by $5/mt to $530/mt CFR. Meanwhile, a deal for 10,000 mt of ex-China Q195 HRC through non-VAT traders has been signed at $522/mt CFR this week, while another batch for around 10,000 mt as well has been reported at $525/mt CFR. Besides, another deal for 20,000 mt of ex-China Q195 strips has been reported at $515/mt CFR. Meanwhile, offers for SAE1006 HRC from Chinese traders have been heard at $545/mt CFR this week. Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has moved to $545/mt CFR, versus $555/mt CFR last week.
At the same time, around 60,000 mt of ex-Vietnam HRC have been reportedly sold in India at $580-583/mt CFR for August shipment this week. Notably, imports of Vietnamese HRC have continued to flood Indian market, as a major integrated steel manufacturer in Vietnam Formosa Ha Tinh, in late May approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), has been selling significant volumes of its materials since the beginning of this month.
Ex-India HRC prices remained stable even as ex-India sales in Asian and Gulf regions remained stalled in the face of competitive pricing from China while revival of sales in Europe proved to be short-lived after more aggressive sales by local mills. Sources said that ex-India HRC offers were unchanged at $560-610/mt FOB, but trade activity in Europe seen in earlier weeks fizzled out as distributors shifted to local sourcing after mills adopted aggressive pricing. Besides, most European customers have been refraining from purchases from India given the safeguard quota issue. Specifically, offers from India have been reported at $665/mt CFR southern Europe, which translates to around $610/mt FOB, the same as last week.
Local HRC prices in the EU have been kept mainly unchanged over the past week with mills failing to increase their offers due to sluggish demand, though continuing to defend their prices, avoiding additional discounts. Specifically, while official offers from European mills have remained at €640-650/mt ex-works in Italy and at €640-660/mt ex-works in northern Europe, unchanged from the last week, the tradable prices both in Italy and in the north have remained at €630-640/mt ex-works. According to sources, European HRC mills have been hungry for new orders, though deals have been reported mainly for small volumes at around €630/mt ex-works, for July-August delivery. Meanwhile, the import segment has been still affected by safeguard measures issue, with most offers reported at relatively the same level as last week, while trade activity has been close to zero. More specifically, most foreign suppliers have kept their offers unchanged over the past week at €615-620/mt CFR level, though some, like those from Taiwan and Vietnam have been offering their materials at slightly lower levels at €610/mt CFR and €590/mt CFR, respectively, to attract buyers, while those from Turkey have increased their prices to €640/mt CFR, including duty, versus €615-630/mt CFR last week.