Following rises in import HRC prices seen in Vietnam at the end of last week, this week most import offers, for ex-China HRC in particular, have continued to move up following the recovery of futures prices in China. However, trade activity has remained muted, though, according to most market insiders, sentiment is still rather positive for the future price trend.
Specifically, this week ex-China SS400 HRC offers in Vietnam have been voiced at around $580-585/mt CFR, up by $5-10/mt week on week, while offers for Q195 HRC have been estimated at $575/mt CFR, against $565/mt CFR last week.
In the SAE1006 HRC segment, offers from Chinese suppliers in Vietnam have increased to $600-610/mt CFR, versus $585-590/mt CFR at the beginning of last week and up by $10-15/mt since the end of last week. Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price is now at $600/mt CFR, against $590-595/mt CFR, with no new deals reported so far though.
At the same time, Vietnamese customers are expecting local producer Hoa Phat Group to announce new domestic offers next week at higher levels. “We expect Hoa Phat to increase their offers by around $35/mt since the previous hike, as the market is still rather positive,” a representative of the Vietnamese mill told SteelOrbis. Specifically, on December 1, Hoa Phat Group increased its local prices for non-skin-passed SAE1006 and SS400 HRC by $35/mt month on month to around $603-605/mt CIF, as SteelOrbis reported.
As of December 27, Chinese HRC futures prices at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,137/mt ($583/mt), moving up by RMB 79/mt ($11.1/mt) since December 20, while rising by 0.07 percent compared to the previous trading day (December 26).
$1 = RMB 7.1002