Posted on 18 Mar 2024
Vietnam’s hot rolled coil import market is spiralling downwards, in tandem with sliding Chinese steel prices, Kallanishnotes. Buyers are not keen to place orders in the falling market.
Offers for 2mm and up thickness SAE 1006 HRC from China are currently at around $570/tonne cfr Vietnam. However, there are also lower-priced quotes for stock lots. A well-known Vietnamese stockist is offering prompt-shipment stock cargoes of SAE 1006 HRC from China at $558/t cfr Ho Chi Minh City, trading sources in Vietnam report.
“The seller is under huge pressure and needs to liquidate,” a Hanoi trader reports. As he thinks there will buyers at this level, domestic producers and traders with quantities to sell will similarly be forced to accept lower prices. “Buyers are just not interested in a discussion,” a regional trader says. “So I can’t say what the price is today,” he adds.
Formosa Ha Tinh announced last Wednesday it was aiming to keep its new monthly list prices for non-skin-passed SAE 1006 HRC slightly lower, at $593-600/t cfr Vietnam. Trading sources say the market is not paying heed to the mill's latest offers because they are too high-priced, with sources expecting the mill will give discounts.
“The market for Chinese HRC is almost silent,” another Vietnamese trader says. He only heard of small tonnages of 3-12mm thickness Q235B HRC from China booked for May shipment at $520/t cfr Vietnam during the past week. Offers for 3mm base thickness Q195 HRC from China have fallen to $515-518/t cfr Vietnam.
Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $565-570/t cfr Vietnam, down $10 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
