Posted on 15 Nov 2021
The Vietnamese HRC market was sluggish during the past week. Vietnam’s Formosa Ha Tinh has cut its domestic hot rolled coil prices for January/February shipments, Kallanish notes. The leading producer's price cut is realistic because of the downturn in the market.
The mill announced on 12 November that it is offering non-skin-passed hot rolled SAE 1006 (hot rolled band) at around $880/t cif Ho Chi Minh City. The mill’s export base price is $870/t fob, a company source says. Prices for HRC have fallen by $40 on-month, he adds. There is a $5/t premium for skin-passed material.
Formosa’s new HRC prices are reflective of the market, a Chinese trader says. There are, however, still January-shipment offers for Chinese SS400/Q195 HRC at as low as $800/t cfr Vietnam. Also, a Vietnamese stockist/trader is heard to have ordered 2.3mm and up thickness SAE 1006 HRC from China at $835/t cfr Vietnam. A Vietnamese trader heard that the buyer booked 30,000t on 10 November. The Chinese mill's poor domestic sales could have spurred the sale, trading sources say.
Another Chinese mill's offer for SAE 1006 HRC is prevailing at $845/t cfr for January shipment, a second Vietnamese trader says. However, not many buyers are interested to give bids for imported material because demand is very weak, he says. There are offers for new production of Indian and Kazakh 2mm up thickness HRC at $840/t cfr Vietnam earlier this week. The trader says that these offers are still available on 12 November. However, some others say that suppliers withdrew these offers from the market after the Chinese steel futures rebounded mid-week.
The direction of the Chinese HRC market remains unclear, Chinese trading sources say. Steel prices rose on 11 November and fell back the following day. "It was a one-day trip," a Chinese trader says on the quick turnaround in the market. Kallanish lowered its SAE 2-2.7mm thickness HRC assessment to $835-845/t cfr Ho Chi Minh City, down $17.5/t on-week.
Source:Kallanish
