Posted on 13 Jan 2022
A leading Vietnamese hot rolled coil producer has slashed its domestic prices for March shipments, Kallanish notes. The Vietnamese HRC market is languishing from poor business confidence brought about by continued Covid-19 infections.
Formosa Ha Tinh is offering its March shipments of non-skin passed SAE 1006 (hot rolled band) at the equivalent of $740/tonne fob, according to company sources. This would be around $755/t cfr Ho Chi Minh City and $750/t cfr Haiphong. Last month, traders heard the mill’s offer price was $65/t lower at around $820/t cfr Ho Chi Minh City for February/March shipments. “Formosa has to lower prices because it has large stocks and demand is low in Vietnam,” a Vietnamese trader says.
“The price cut reflects that the market is really weak,” a Chinese trader says. “Formosa’s prices are lower than I expected,” says a distributor who thought the mill would instead tag its domestic prices at $760-770/t cfr. His customers say Formosa’s new SS400 price is at $745-746/t cfr Haiphong.
Vietnamese users have been importing Indian-origin HRC because of its competitive pricing. Previous deals for Indian-origin SAE 1006 2mm and up thickness HRC closed at $745-750/t cfr in the past two weeks.
Market sources are divided on whether an Indian mill recently heard to have secured sales for February shipment, concluded at $753/t cfr and $760/t respectively. Some say they have not heard of these higher-priced deals but think they could have taken place. “If for February shipment, it is possible because Formosa is offering March shipments,” the distributor says. “It is possible that the deals took place last week but for this week no one wants to buy [imports] at $750/t cfr,” a Vietnamese trader says.
But a Vietnamese trader thinks the Indian-origin buyers would have waited and purchased material instead from Formosa. "I don't think Vietnamese buyers will pay at such a high price," a Chinese trader says.
Source:Kallanish
