Posted on 13 Mar 2023
Export offers of hot rolled coil from China are firm in Vietnam. Chinese suppliers are hiking quotes in tandem with the strong domestic market but Vietnamese buying interest is thin, Kallanish notes.
Offers for re-rolling 2mm up thickness SAE 1006 HRC from China are prevailing at $690-700/tonne cfr Vietnam. This compares with position cargoes heard at $680/t cfr previously. Commercial SS400 grade 3-12mm HRC offers are heard at around $650/t cfr Vietnam. Kallanish assessed imported SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $685/t cfr Vietnam, up $5 on week.
Market expectations that domestic producer Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS) will release new HRC allocations in the coming days may be dulling import buying interest. There is market chatter that FHS will set a sales price of around $710/t for its new allocations. The mill tagged its April-shipment non-skin-passed SAE 1006 HRC at the equivalent of $694/t cif Vietnam last month.
While the SAE 1006 HRC market is quiet in the country, several small-tonnage deals were recently struck for Chinese SS400 HRC. A Hanoi trader heard some transactions closing at $646-647/t cfr, while a Chinese trader reports hearing a 1,000-tonne order at $650/t cfr on 9 March. Trading for SAE1006 and SS400 HRC is slow, a southern Vietnamese trader said on Friday.
Source:Kallanish
