Posted on 11 Jul 2023
The import market for commercial hot rolled coil dipped on Friday amid the slide in Chinese steel futures, Kallanish notes.
Several small-tonnage deals for prompt shipments of 2mm thickness Chinese-origin Q195 transacted at $535/tonne cfr Vietnam and for 2.75mm thickness at $540/t cfr, Vietnamese trading sources says. "These prices were available just this afternoon," a trader in southern Vietnam said on Friday. Chinese HRC futures prices plunged by 2.36%, she noted simultaneously.
3mm thickness upwards Q195/Q235 for August shipment from multiple Chinese mills was offered at $545/t cfr Vietnam on Thursday. Bids were at $540/t cfr on Friday morning and at $530/t cfr in the afternoon, says another Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) trader who is unaware of concluded deals. "I don't think the market will see big price adjustments because raw materials are still firm," a Hanoi trader added on Friday. Earlier during the week, deals for Q195 and SS400/Q235 grades took place at around $545/t cfr Vietnam.
2-2.5mm thickness SAE1006 HRC from China is offered at unchanged levels of $575-580/t cfr. Chinese-origin SAE 1006 HRC deals took place at $560-570/t cfr Vietnam during the last week of June.
A leading Vietnamese stockist was heard by a few sources to have ordered a cargo of 2mm thickness SAE 1006 HRC from a tier-1 Chinese mill at $578/t cfr earlier in the week. “The stockist did not confirm this news, it is a rumour,” the Hanoi trader says.
A HCMC trader says he did not think the stockist will pay the “high price” even though the Chinese mill’s “quality is good”. He adds he knows of a buyer who booked a 4,000-tonne stock lot of Chinese SAE 1006 HRC on Thursday at $560/t cfr. Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $560-570/t cfr Vietnam, unchanged on-week.
But a second HCMC trader who heard of the deal says that $578/t was “reasonable” because domestic producer Hoa Phat raised its monthly domestic prices on 3 July. Hoa Phat pegged its non-skin passed SAE1006/SS400 grade HRC for August/September deliveries at the equivalent of around $581/t cfr HCMC, up $10/t.
The producer has sold out all its domestic allocations for August shipment, a source close to the company said on Friday. The company achieved total sales of 280,000t, he added.
Source:Kallanish
