Posted on 21 Jul 2025
The import market for hot rolled coil in Vietnam remained quiet last week, Kallanish notes, with weak domestic demand still depressing trading activity.
Chinese-origin HRC offers have risen further. Quotes for China-origin 2m width, 3-12mm thickness Q235 grade HRC for early-October shipment were prevailing at $470-473/tonne cfr Vietnam, up from $463-465/t cfr on 11 July. “Customers will not accept this price level because the market is weak,” a Hanoi trader says.
Rerollers in Vietnam are having a difficult time with the loss of export sales of coated steel to the EU and US. Some are having to selling domestically at very competitive prices to gain market share.
Vietnamese buyers have turned to wide-width Chinese HRC in order to circumvent anti-dumping duties which apply to Chinese HRC of up to 1,880mm width. A “huge amount” of wide-width commercial quality Chinese HRC shipments are due to arrive from early August onwards, another Vietnamese trader notes. These were booked at around $440-450/t levels, he adds.
A tier 1 Chinese mill is offering 1,900/2000mm width 2mm thickness SAE 1006 grade HRC at $505/t cfr, up from $490/t cfr at end-June, a Chinese trader notes.
Meanwhile, several market sources report Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS) has completed the sale of its August/September HRC shipments, which were released at $497-507/t cfr southern Vietnam on 9 July. "Their HRC price is competitive against overseas suppliers," a southern Vietnam trader says. Another trader hears the mill finished selling its HRC allocation of around 300,000 tonnes.
Fellow Vietnamese HRC producer Hoa Phat Group also sold out its August-delivery HRC allocation earlier this month at prices slightly lower than FHS.
Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $480-485/t cfr Vietnam, unchanged week-on-week.
Source:Kallanish
