Posted on 27 Dec 2022
Demand for hot rolled coil has improved in Vietnam, Kallanish understands. Buyers have taken in more allocations from domestic mills at levels deemed competitive against imports, particularly from China. Over the past week, HRC offers from China either slipped slightly or stabilised.
Several Vietnamese trading sources report the two domestic mills have fully sold out their latest allocations of HRC. “People were buying to stock-pile material because they expect prices will go more after the Lunar New Year,” a Vietnamese trader in Ho Chi Minh City says. “They purchased as much as they could.”
A Hanoi trader believes there could still be demand in the market because he understands the mills' allocations were insufficient to meet demand. He estimates Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS) achieved sales of around 250,000 tonnes and Hoa Phat around 180,000t.
FHS’s non-skin-passed SAE 1006 HRC February-shipment quotes are at the equivalent of $605/tonne cfr, while Hoa Phat announced its prices for February/March shipment at around $595/t cfr Vietnam.
But some other sources in Vietnam are only able to confirm that recent booking volumes have improved compared to last month. There are doubts that demand or market sentiment, which has been in the doldrums for months, can improve in such a short time span.
Meanwhile, Chinese offers have widened, with some suppliers lowering their prices over the past week due to the futures market price correction over the previous weekend and the uncertainties caused by spiralling Covid infections in China. A Chinese trader reports he is offering Chinese 2mm and up thickness SAE HRC at $615/t cfr Vietnam. But some others say that Chinese SAE 1006 offers are prevailing at $630/t cfr.
A second Chinese trader is still offering 3mm up thickness SS400 HRC at $585/t cfr after closing some deals at this same level earlier last week. A Vietnamese trader is hearing SS400 HRC offers from two Chinese mills at $610/t cfr. Offers were heard at $600-605/t cfr on 16 December.
Kallanish assessed imported SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $600/t cfr Vietnam, unchanged on-week.
Source:Kallanish
