Posted on 26 Oct 2020
Prices for SS400 hot rolled coil are creeping up in Vietnam. Buyers are accepting higher prices in order to replenish low stocks, Kallanish notes.
A 3,000-tonne cargo of Chinese-origin 3mm and up thickness SS400 HRC was ordered last Thursday at $525/tonne cfr, up from $520/t on Tuesday. "Customers are still bidding today at $525/t cfr," a Chinese trader said on Friday. Offers for SS400 for open-origin – likely Chinese-origin – SS400 are prevailing at $530/t cfr, for shipment by early January.
On the other hand, the market for SAE 1006 HRC in Vietnam is less active with lesser buying interest. Offers for 2-2.5mm thickness SAE 1006 from China for shipment by early January are at similar levels of $530/t cfr Vietnam. While Chinese SAE 1006 HRC last closed at $525-530/t cfr Vietnam, bids are now at $520/t cfr, Vietnamese trading sources say.
Indian 2-2.7mm thickness SAE 1006 HRC is being offered at $540/t cfr but bids are also only at $520/t cfr. Russian 2mm and up thickness SAE 1006 HRC was ordered at $512/t cfr Vietnam last Monday but bids have since slumped to as low as $500/t cfr. Current offers for SAE 1006 HRC in the market are mostly for second-half-of-December/early-January shipments.
Importers are uncertain about demand in early January and the first quarter next year, a Vietnamese trader says. Buyers are bidding higher for quicker shipments, at $530/t cfr if cargoes can be shipped by mid-December. However, a Chinese trader with such a bid at $530/t cfr says that he cannot find sellers because the CNY is too strong.
"Some Indian cargoes have been arriving, so buyers are not aggressively following high offer levels," another Vietnamese trader says. Inventories are at reasonable levels, he adds.
On Friday, Kallanish assessed 2-2.7mm SAE1006 HRC at $520-525/t cfr Vietnam, up $2.5 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
