Posted on 28 Jul 2025
The import market for hot rolled coil in Vietnam continues to struggle to find buying interest, Kallanish notes.
With Chinese HRC prices soaring amid the buoyant sentiment on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, exporters of other HRC origins have been trying to raise offer prices. But domestic HRC has recently been sold at levels which imported HRC cannot compete with.
Chinese-origin wide-width HRC offers rose sharply again. Quotes for China-origin 2m width, 3-12mm thickness Q235 grade HRC have jumped up to $493-495/tonne cfr Vietnam compared to $470-473/tonne cfr on 18 July.
Japanese 2mm thickness SAE 1006 HRC offered at $510-515/t cfr offers some scope for discussions, some trading sources say.
Indonesian 3mm base HRC was offered initially at $518/t cfr but agents/traders are instead inviting bids at $505/t cfr. Indonesian HRC has not been competitive for some months. “There is not much to do now for imported HRC,” a Hanoi trader says.
There are market expectations that domestic producer Hoa Phat Dung Quat will be raising its HRC prices for its new domestic allocations next week by $10-15/t, he adds.
"Prices will be increased," says another Vietnamese trader.
Hoa Phat, and rival mill, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, which pressed for anti-dumping action on Chinese HRC, sold out their allocations when they were released this month.
Formosa's HRC prices were officially announced at $497-507/t cfr southern Vietnam, and its sales were fully taken up in mid-July. Hoa Phat sold out its August delivery allocations early this month. It announced its official sales price at around $500/t cfr southern Vietnam.
Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $490-495/t cfr Vietnam, up $10/t week-on-week.
Source:Kallanish
