Posted on 15 Jul 2021
Vietnamese importers have acceded to higher prices for re-rolling hot rolled coil this week, Kallanish notes. Steel demand has been crimped because of lockdown measures in Ho Chi Minh City to combat the pandemic. On the other hand, production cuts in China would cause Chinese supply to retreat from the Vietnamese market, Chinese traders say.
Several re-rollers in Vietnam ordered on 12 July around 60,000 tonnes of SAE 1006 HRC for September shipment from three Indian mills at $915-922/tonne cfr, trading sources say. The HRC will be used to produce coated steel for orders up to November shipment to EU and USA, a Vietnamese market source says. However, Kallanish understands from market sources that Vietnamese export sales are in decline now.
South Korean traders are meanwhile back to offering SAE 1006 HRC from a Russian mill, this time for September shipment, at $890/t cfr Vietnam. SAE 1006 HRC July-shipment sales from the same Russian mill took place at $860/t cfr Vietnam on 25 June.
Some traders believe that discussions are ongoing. But a Vietnamese trader says Vietnamese buyers are not keen because domestic mill Formosa Ha Tinh is expected to release its new allocations this week. There is market chatter that Formosa will offer material at $960-980/t cif Vietnam. Last month, Formosa priced its August shipments of SAE 1006 HRC at $1,030/t cif Hai Phong and at $1,035/t cif Ho Chi Minh City. The other Vietnamese mill, Hoa Phat, is also due to release its new HRC allocation prices next week, the trader adds.
Meanwhile, Chinese mills are likely to opt out of the Vietnamese market, Chinese trading sources say. “Chinese HRC is not an option now for Vietnam,” a Chinese trader says. He explains that most Chinese mills have withheld export offers with the intention of increasing prices. He thinks that new export offers could be tagged at as high as $1,000/t cfr Vietnam. Another believes that Chinese export offers would be at above $970/t fob. “They are not focused on exporting now,” he says.
Source:Kallanish
