Posted on 03 Feb 2021
Sentiment in Vietnam’s long products and scrap markets is bearish because of the approaching Tet (Lunar New Year) and ongoing pandemic, Kallanish understands. Scrap import prices, already reeling because of weakness in international markets, could come down further.
Export offers for Vietnamese blast furnace billet have dropped this week to $530/tonne fob and for induction furnace billet to $520/t fob. Last week, a Vietnamese mill sold 30,000 tonnes of blast furnace billet at $545/t fob to traders for the Thai market, Thai traders report.
The latest offer for blast furnace billet is estimated to be at around $550-555/t cfr Manila. A Manila trader does not see buying taking place until the end of the month. "Everyone will prefer to wait till after the end of the New Year holiday before deciding," he says.
Meanwhile, Japanese H2 grade scrap transacted last week at $375/t cfr Vietnam. This is the current level for offers too. A mill manager says his mill has not yet decided on whether to place orders. Business is poor now for those in the Vietnamese longs market, as there are no margins, he adds. H2 scrap offer prices last Thursday were tagged at $380/t cfr, down from $415/t cfr earlier in the same week.
The slow steel market is due to the approaching Tet holiday, he and others say. It is worse this year because of the uncertainties associated with the containment of the Covid-19 virus. A scrap trader says he expects H2 prices to likely come down to $360/t this week.
Source:Kallanish
