Posted on 04 Apr 2023
Vietnam's Hoa Phat Dung Quat has lowered its price for new domestic allocations of hot rolled coil for May/June shipments, Kallanish notes. This is tandem with weaker domestic and regional HRC markets.
Its non-skin passed SAE1006 or SS400 grade HRC has been set at the equivalent of VND 16,030/kg (around $680/tonne) cfr Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), down from VND 16,330/kg last month. The company’s HRC prices to northern and central Vietnam are currently each listed at VND 16,000/kg. These prices are for May/June shipments and exclude VAT.
Weak domestic demand continues to depress the market. Users of SAE 1006 and SS400 HRC would find it difficult to accept Hoa Phat's announced prices. "The market is very quiet now. Chinese HRC prices are low," a HCMC trader says.
Offers for SS400 and SAE 1006 HRC from China have once again slumped and are heard at as low as $625/t cfr Vietnam and $660/t cfr respectively, Vietnamese trading sources say. Just last Friday, suppliers of Chinese HRC had lifted offers from these levels by $10-15/t. "It is all down [again] now," another HCMC trader says.
A small quantity of 3,000 tonnes of Chinese SAE 1006 HRC was transacted last week at $660/t fob, which would be equivalent to $670/t cfr Vietnam. There were also deals heard for SS400 HRC from China at around $630/t cfr in the early part of last week.
Source:Kallanish
