Posted on 01 Nov 2021
Vietnam’s hot rolled coil importers were cautious during the past week because of the downturn in the Chinese steel market, Kallanish understands.
The market continues to see limited offers from suppliers for imported HRC. An Indian mill which last sold SAE 1006 HRC for December shipment at $880/tonne cfr Ho Chi Minh City on 19-20 October has raised its offer to $920/t cfr. Another Indian mill’s offer for SS400 grade HRC is prevailing at $910/t cfr.
“There are no bids,” a Vietnamese trader says. Buyers were spooked by the weak Chinese market, he notes. But prices have stabilised as Chinese steel futures have stopped falling, he says on 29 October. Chinese SS400 was offered at $886/t cfr Vietnam during the past week. The offer, which is subject to final confirmation, is for a cargo for shipment by end-December 2021.
Another Vietnamese source was optimistic that the recovery in the Chinese steel market will bolster the Vietnamese HRC market. However, there are hardly any firm HRC import offers including Russian HRC in the market now, he says. The recent arrival of a high volume of HRC imports from India and Russia has contributed to the market weakness, a Ho Chi Minh industry source says.
Kallanish maintained its SAE 2-2.7mm thickness HRC assessment at $870-880/t cfr Ho Chi Minh City.
Source:Kallanish
