Following the slight recovery seen in Vietnam’s HRC import market in the previous week, this past week brought first a slight drop in prices and then later some recovery in prices amid fluctuations in offers from Chinese suppliers who have returned to the market after their holiday. At the same time, business activity has been rather limited due to slow demand.
At the beginning of the past week, offers for ex-China SS400/Q235 HRC were estimated at $540-545/mt CFR, against $540-550/mt CFR last week. However, by the middle of the week, most offers had rolled back to $540-550/mt CFR. Besides, on Monday, May 6, most Chinese SAE1006 HRC offers were estimated in Vietnam at $555-565/mt CFR, down by $10/mt on the lower end of the range week on week, while by Thursday, May 9, offers have been assessed at $560-565/mt CFR.
“With the disappearance of many low-priced cargoes due to persistent rumours of a crackdown on non-VAT HRC export from China, import trade activity has been slow in Vietnam,” a Vietnamese trader told SteelOrbis.
Offers from other suppliers have been rare this week, though, according to market insiders, offers for ex-India SAE1006 HRC have been voiced at $575/mt CFR for June shipment, with even a few small deals reported to have been signed at the abovementioned level, though this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has been estimated at around $560-570/mt CFR, the same as last week, with the lower end of the range corresponding to ex-China offers, while the higher end of the range corresponds mainly to buyers’ price ideas for coils of other origins.
“Vietnamese customers have been mainly in wait-and-see mood and will likely restart purchases next week when local producer Formosa Ha Tinh (FHS) will come out with new offers,” a market insider said.