Posted on 13 Feb 2023
Chinese export prices for hot rolled coil have rebounded in Vietnam amid improved market sentiment in China. However, the Vietnamese domestic market is still being held back by high interest rates and credit restrictions, Kallanish notes.
Position cargoes for Chinese SAE 1006 2mm up thickness HRC are currently offered at $660-665/tonne cfr Vietnam. One such offer seen by Kallanish is for 2,000 tonnes of 2mm-2.7mm SAE 1006 HRC from Magang at $660/t cfr Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and $662/t cfr Haiphong for shipment by 10 April.
A Vietnamese stockist secured a large tonnage, heard to be around 90,000t, of 2mm up thickness Chinese SAE 1006 HRC at $660/t cfr HCMC during the week through 3 February. The booking is for a leading re-roller. Demand for coated cold rolled coil has improved, a mill manager says. “The situation for coated steel is better than for the pipe and fabricator sectors,” a Hanoi trader says. Kallanish assessed imported SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $660/t cfr Vietnam, unchanged on-week.
Offers for Chinese SS400 grade HRC are prevailing at $625/tonne cfr, but suppliers are welcoming bids at $620/t cfr, a HCMC trader said on Friday. “Domestic demand is still weak,” he added. Bookings for 3-12mm thickness SS400/Q195 from smaller Chinese mills closed at $615-620/t cfr Vietnam early last week.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese market is waiting for domestic mill Formosa Ha Tinh Steel to release its new allocations of HRC for April shipment within the next few days. There is market chatter the mill will offer its non-skin-passed SAE 1006 HRC at around $680/t cfr HCMC. “I think it may be even higher,” the mill manager says. The mill's domestic price last month was $635/t cfr. But a trader who also heard the rumoured offer price at $680/t thinks this level is too high for Vietnamese buyers to accept.
Source:Kallanish
