Posted on 22 Aug 2022
Vietnam’s import market has fallen sharply once again, Kallanish notes.
Offer prices for Chinese 3-12mm thickness S400 hot rolled coil for October shipments fell sharply on Friday to $580-585/tonne cfr Ho Chi Minh City, say trading participants in Vietnam and China. The offers come from traders who are short-selling these cargoes.
“There is a big drop in prices today,” a southern Vietnamese trader said on Friday. But he thinks the latest Chinese offer prices are “reasonable” amid the continued losses in China’s steel futures markets. Chinese-origin SS400 HRC traded at $610-618/t cfr Vietnam during 1-3 August after previously slumping in mid-July to lows of around $570/t cfr.
Demand in Vietnam’s re-rolling HRC segment continues to be weaker than for SS400 grade HRC. “There is no chance to offer material because there is no demand,” a Chinese trader says. Some traders are also short-selling open-origin material, either Indian or Chinese SAE 1006 HRC, at $600/t cfr, a Vietnamese trader says. Another reports that an international trader is offering Taiwanese-origin SAE 1006 HRC for October shipment at $595/t cfr Vietnam. He understands the trader is able to supply 40,000 tonnes. "Prices are down again," he adds.
Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $595-600/t cfr Vietnam, down $10/t on-week.
On 17 August, local producer Hoa Phat set the price for its non-skin passed HRC for October shipment at the equivalent of $595/t cfr Vietnam for both SAE 1006 and SS400 grades.
Source:Kallanish
