Following higher HRC import prices in Vietnam which resulted in new deals for ex-China HRC over the past few weeks, this week has started with some turbulence in the market amid the decline in ex-China HRC price offers.
“To describe the current market, I will say that this morning ex-China Q195 HRC offers were at $555/mt CFR, while by the evening new offers are already at $560/mt CFR, and the situation is like this all week, with ups and downs though in a limited range,” a Vietnamese trader told SteelOrbis.
According to sources, given the fluctuations for ex-China HRC offers, several deals for around 5,000 mt of Q195 HRC have been heard at $555/mt CFR, for January shipment. Besides, Chinese traders are reported to have sold at around 10,000 mt of Q235/SS400 HRC in Vietnam at $557-560/mt CFR this week, down by $5/mt week on week. Furthermore, following a deal for around 30,000 mt of ex-China SAE1006 HRC at $578/mt CFR Vietnam last week, around 6,000 mt of Q355/SAE1006 HRC were sold at $575-578/mt CFR at the beginning of this week, while by the end of the week market insiders have reported around 30,000 mt in total were booked at $575/mt CFR through traders. However, most SAE1006 HRC offers have remained at $580/mt CFR, while offers from Chinese mills have been still at $590-600/mt CFR level.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has settled at $575-580/mt CFR, the same as last week, as even though several deals have been reported at lower prices, most sellers have refused to go lower than the $580/mt CFR level.
Other foreign suppliers have remained out of the Vietnamese market, with indicative offers for ex-Japan HRC heard at $600-630/mt CFR, up by $10-30/mt week on week.