Posted on 14 Feb 2022
Vietnamese hot rolled coil importers were not receptive to sharply hiked offers from overseas suppliers last week, Kallanish notes. Suppliers raised HRC offer prices by large margins in tandem with firming global markets.
A popular Chinese mill is offering SAE 1006 2-2.5mm thickness HRC at $860/tonne cfr Ho Chi Minh City for shipment by end-April. Some commercial Chinese HRC was traded last week. A 2,000-tonne cargo of 3-12mm SS400 grade HRC for April shipment closed at $830/t cfr Ho Chi Minh on Friday.
Trading sources also hear of a Chinese trader offering several 5,000t Indian-origin HRC March-shipment position cargoes of pre-specific sizes at $825/t cfr Vietnam. “I think the cargoes have been sold out already,” a trader said on Friday.
Indian mills are offering SAE 1006 HRC at $890/t cfr, but a Chinese trader notes that certain Indian offers were hiked on Friday to $905/t cfr. A tier 1 South Korean mill is offering SAE 1006 material at $930-950/t cfr. “The market is now waiting for Formosa Ha Tinh Steel’s new offer before it decides on purchases,” a Singapore trader notes.
Earlier last week, a tier 1 Japanese mill raised its offer for 2mm base thickness HRC to $950/t cfr Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. The $100/t price hike is too fast, a Vietnamese trader says. Participants are holding out for Formosa and Hoa Phat to release their new allocations, he adds. Kallanish assessed SAE 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $825-840/t cfr Ho Chi Minh City, up $40/t on week.
Meanwhile, PT Krakatau Posco (PTKP) is in the market canvassing for export enquiries in Vietnam, some traders say. “They started to make offers recently, around two weeks ago,” a Jakarta trader says. He hears the company indicated HRC offers at around $870/t cfr Vietnam, but says this is not particularly competitive for a new mill. A Vietnamese mill manager hears the mill’s offer for SAE 1006 HRC is at $850/t cfr.
PTKP is making preparations for its proposed ownership and control of PT Krakatau Steel’s new 1.5 million tonnes/year capacity No.2 hot strip mill located in Cilegon, Banten. The planned asset injection comes about after PT Krakatau Steel announced last month it aims to raise its non-controlling stake in PTKP, its joint venture with POSCO, from 30% to 50%.
Source:Kallanish
