Posted on 01 Feb 2021
The Vietnamese re-rolling hot rolled coil import market continues to see a wide range of prices, Kallanish notes. Traders' position cargoes are priced substantially lower than material from the leading Asian mills.
Early last week, two orders for 3,000 tonnes and 10,000t of Chinese SAE 1006 HRC took place at $645-652/tonne cfr Vietnam. The market turned quiet after that, trading sources in Vietnam and China say. Offers for position cargoes for February/March shipments are prevailing at around $655/t cfr, Vietnamese traders say.
An offer for two 5,000t lots of Chinese SAE 1006 HRC, for end-February shipment, is still available at $657/t cfr Vietnam. A Chinese trader says the offer has been in the market for some time with no takers. Bids are currently at $650/t cfr. "No one will buy the cargoes," another Chinese trader observes.
Some limited small-tonnage bookings are taking place for February/March shipments, he continues. These are 500-1,000t parcels quoted at the lowest price in the market of $600/t cfr, he says. "Buyers don’t want to buy large quantities," he adds.
While HRC deals took place at $650-655/t cfr, these are for material from less reputable Chinese mills, a Vietnamese trader says. Buyers would pay $660/t cfr for HRC for March/April shipment from more popular mills, he adds.
Offers from the Tier 1 Asian mills are generally unchanged on-week and are priced much higher. A Chinese Tier 1 mill is offering 2mm thickness base SAE 1006 HRC at $730/t cfr and a popular Chinese mill is seeking $720/t cfr for 2-2.5mm coil. Offers for Japanese and South Korean SAE 1006 2mm base SAE 1006 HRC are at $770/t and $760/t respectively. Indian SAE 1006 2mm and up HRC is offered at $730/t cfr. Russian SAE 1006 HRC, usually used for pipemaking, is offered at $670/t cfr Vietnam.
Kallanish assessed the import price for SAE 2-2.7mm thickness HRC on 29 January at $650-660/t cfr Ho Chi Minh City, down $10 week-on-week.
Source:Kallanish
