Posted on 11 Aug 2020
Hot rolled coil import prices remain firm in Vietnam at the start of the week, Kallanish notes. A recent deal for Indian-origin 2mm and up thickness SAE 1006 HRC has concluded at above $500/tonne cfr. However, traders were at odds on the quantity booked.
Several traders say the Vietnamese trader/stockist which booked the cargo at $500-505/t cfr Vietnam had purchased 30,000 tonnes. The deal, for September/early October shipment, was placed last week, Indian trading sources say.
There are some who heard the total tonnage booked, for October/early-November shipment, was 100,000t and the deal settled over the weekend. Two traders in Vietnam are sceptical over the large size of the order. “I believe that it was 30,000t,” a Hanoi trader says.
A regional trader reports he only heard 30,000t was procured last week, adding he did not think the Indian mill “…will have such a large quantity” to export. Indian traders told Kallanish last Friday that Indian mills were currently withdrawing from the export market because of very strong demand in the Indian domestic market.
But a third Vietnamese trader says he heard about the 100,000t order, adding the buyer booked the cargo on expectations that prices will rise further. Vietnamese end-users, however, are still aiming to book at $495-500/t cfr.
2mm thickness SAE 1006 HRC from Taiwan and Japan was purchased early last week at $490/t cfr Vietnam.
Source:Kallanish
