Posted on 24 Jun 2024
Exporters continue to cut export prices for hot rolled coil in a bid to entice buyers in Vietnam, Kallanish notes. Buying is heard for commercial HRC at low levels while the market for rerolling HRC remains silent.
Chinese 3mm base Q195 HRC offers have slumped to $522-525/t cfr Vietnam. An offer was circulating on 20 June for shipment by end-August at $522/t cfr and a deal was heard to have concluded at this same price level last Monday.
Some deals may have taken place slightly higher at $525/t cfr, a trader in southern Vietnam reports. Offers for Chinese 3-12mm thickness Q235 grade HRC are prevailing at $527/t cfr, unchanged from transactions the week before.
Offer prices for rerolling grade SAE 1006 HRC from China have fallen from the previous $555-560/t cfr levels. Offers for 30%-50% 2mm thickness SAE 1006 HRC from China are prevailing at around $550/t cfr. There are also offers heard at $545/t cfr Vietnam.
While some traders think that the lower level of $545/t cfr are for material from lesser-known Chinese mills or for cargoes without any 2mm thickness HRC, others say that any offer price holds little relevance. The latter group says that demand is very weak and there are hardly any buyers in the market.
The offer of $545/t comprises 50% of 2mm thickness HRC and is not for position cargoes but back-to-back offers, a Hanoi trader says. “But no one is buying,” he says. A regional trader shrugs off as “just offers.” He has not heard of any SAE 1006 buying in Vietnam, he says.
Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $540-545/t cfr Vietnam, down $7.5 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
