Posted on 16 Nov 2021
Vietnam's October ferrous scrap imports fell to the second-lowest level in 2021 as steelmakers were cautiously optimistic on steel demand recovery after the Covid lockdown ended.
Imports in October fell by 6pc on the month and 33.4pc on the year to 382,000t, taking January-October imports to 5.32mn t and the year-on-year gain to 8.9pc, Vietnam customs data showed.
Vietnam's lockdown was eased on 1 October. October steel production across members of the Vietnam Steel Association recovered by around 19pc from September. But labour shortages limited the demand of downstream factories and construction sites. Many workers returned to their hometowns during the lockdown and will return to work gradually.
Vietnam's domestic steel demand picked up further in November, but scrap imports are likely to have limited gains in the fourth quarter as Vietnam's billet export business was eroded by weaker Chinese steel prices. Tangshan ex-work billet prices fell by 1,200 yuan/t ($188/t) or 22.5pc, from 11 October to 15 November.
Imports from the US halved in October on the month and stood at the second monthly highest after being the highest in the last four months. Total imports from the US year-to-date registered the highest year-on-year gain among all main suppliers as most US suppliers kept offers more competitive than Japanese scrap this year.
October imports from Japan rebounded strongly on the month but were only around half of last October's volume. Japanese scrap exports were subdued this year by firm domestic demand. Prices in the Japanese scrap market corrected between the middle of July and the end of August, and the Argus H2 fob Japan assessment retreated by ¥2,800 ($24.60/t) before it picked up. Vietnamese mills entered the seaborne market to restock after prices return to an uptick in early September.
Source:Argus
