Posted on 19 Jan 2026
Vietnam’s Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS) has lowered its latest domestic hot rolled coil prices for February and March delivery, Kallanish understands. This brings its HRC quotes to under $500/tonne cfr Ho Chi Minh City, trading sources say.
Last Friday, the Vietnamese mill reduced the price for large orders – of 12,000 tonnes and more – to the equivalent of $498/t cfr Vietnam. A trader reports the mill’s price drop was VND 120/kg ($4/t).
FHS had previously hiked its monthly domestic HRC prices by VND 141/kg on 9 January bringing its HRC price for orders exceeding 20,000t to the equivalent of $502/t. Before news of the discounting was circulated, traders said on Friday that the mill had not sold out its allocations.
The mill has had to lower prices because of high stock levels of HRC in the country, says a Vietnamese trader who attributes this to arrivals of large imported volumes in November and December.
Exports of Vietnamese coated steel are very slow, so FHS is discounting to shift stock, another trader says. But Vietnamese "customers still need FHS and Hoaphat for now," he adds.
There is very limited interest for imported HRC now because domestic prices are competitive. “Customers are in wait-and-see mode,” the first trader notes.
Bids were invited last week for a 30,000t cargo of Indian HRC for shipment by end-March at $485-487/t cfr Vietnam. But other suppliers are currently aiming to hike Indian HRC to around $490-495/t cfr.
Indonesian 3mm base HRC for April shipment was offered on 15 January at $490/t fob, which would mean a price of $508-510/t cfr Vietnam – for 10,000t parcels. "There is no chance now to sell Indonesian HRC to Vietnam," a Jakarta trader notes following the price cut from FHS.
Japanese-origin HRC for March shipment is heard offered at $500/t cfr, down from $505/t cfr earlier last week.
Kallanish assesses SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $480/t cfr Vietnam, unchanged week-on-week.
Source:Kallanish
