Posted on 08 Sep 2025
Vietnamese buyers are increasingly turning to domestic hot rolled coil, Kallanish notes.
Market sources had previously considered Vietnamese producer Hoa Phat Dung Quat’s $11/tonne HRC price hike to around $526/t cfr southern Vietnam too high. They now say the mill may be able sell out all its November-deliver allocations which were released 3 September.
“Some are saying that Hoa Phat may not give the usual $10/t discount [for large purchases of 20,000 tonnes],” a Hanoi trader notes.
Hoa Phat recently completed its Phase 2 steel expansion project which increased its steel capacity by 5.6 million tonnes/year (see Kallanish passim). The group’s total steel capacity has been expanded to 16m t/y, of which 9m t/y comprises HRC.
But market sources hear the company will continue to produce around 500,000-600,000t monthly of HRC. “Basically, they will not raise HRC production capacity in the short term, maybe from now till the end of the year. Instead, they will be reducing the capacities of their older blast furnaces for maintenance,” a trader says. A reroller hears the same, noting: “That’s why they are raising their prices.” Another trader says Hoa Phat sells around 90% of HRC production domestically.
Vietnamese buyers have been importing wide-width HRC from China in order to circumvent 23.01-27.83% anti-dumping duties on Chinese HRC of up to 1,880mm width.
Some buyers booked wide-width Q235 HRC last week at $491-492/t cfr Vietnam. These buyers face risk because Hoa Phat and local rival Formosa Ha Tinh are expected to file an antidumping petition against Chinese wide-width HRC. “They want to block Chinese HRC. This could happen in December,” the second trader cautions.
Current offers of China-origin 2,000mm width Q235 grade HRC are seen at around $490/t cfr Vietnam and for Q195 grade at $491/t cfr.
Offers for 3mm base SS400/SAE1006 HRC from Indonesia’s Dexin are prevailing at $505-506/t cfr Vietnam. Bids are coming in at $500/t cfr, an Indonesian trader says.
Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $500-505/t cfr Vietnam, unchanged week-on-week.
Meanwhile, the HRC cargoes destined for Vietnam and detained by Chinese authorities at Fangchenggang port for suspected VAT evasion are being cleared very slowly, Vietnamese trading sources observe. Clearance of small lots, together with invoices from the Guangxi steel mill producer, may take up to one month. Some affected buyers are turning to Chinese domestic stockpiled HRC, which costs $15-20/t more. "It's that or they need to wait," a trader affirms.
Source:Kallanish
