Posted on 28 Nov 2022
The Vietnamese hot rolled coil market has risen but price gains are modest, Kallanish notes. While locally produced HRC remains more competitive than imported material, demand remains depressed in Vietnam.
Offers for Chinese 2mm and up thickness SAE 1006 HRC offers are prevailing at $560-570/tonne cfr Ho Chi Minh (HCM), Vietnamese trading sources observe. Indian SAE 1006 HRC offers were recently hiked to $560/t cfr from $540/t cfr. Taiwanese SAE 1006 HRC is also heard offered at $550/t cfr, for what local traders believe are position cargoes.
Vietnamese users will not accept these higher import prices, traders say. The users will prefer to book domestic HRC, which is tagged at lower levels. Formosa Ha Tinh’s domestic sales offer price for non-skin-passed SAE 1006 HRC was announced at the equivalent of $550/t cfr Vietnam on 17 November, and Hoa Phat announced its prices two days later at $5/t lower.
“The Vietnamese market is very weak. Buyers are not accepting higher prices despite Chinese prices going up,” a HCM trader says. Chinese offers for 3-12mm thickness SS400 HRC are heard at $545/t cfr. Bids for SS400 grade HRC are at $525-530/t cfr but suppliers do not want to sell at this level, a Chinese trader says.
Current HRC demand is coming mostly from the pipemaking and construction sectors, a Hanoi trader says. "Most re-rollers skipped making their purchases of re-rolling grade HRC because of weak demand," he observes. It is unclear what price Formosa is achieving for its current SAE 1006 HRC sales. "I am not sure either about their sales quantity this time," the trader adds.
Kallanish assessed imported SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $535-540/t cfr Vietnam, up $2.5 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
