Posted on 31 Jul 2023
Suppliers continue to hike hot rolled coil export offers to Vietnam, in line with the buoyant Chinese domestic steel market, Kallanish notes. Commercial-quality HRC prices are rising more quickly than those for re-rolling SAE 1006. Trading sources in Vietnam say they did not hear of deals taking place last week.
Offers for 2mm up thickness SAE 1006 grade HRC from China have risen to $595-600/tonne cfr Vietnam, up by $10/t from the week before. An offer for 2-2.75mm thickness SAE1006 HRC for shipment by 15 October from a popular Chinese mill is prevailing at $600/t cfr.
There is a firm bid for SAE 1006 HRC at $585/t cfr, a Shanghai trader reports hearing. Traders’ position cargoes for small, 1,000-3,000-tonne SAE 1006 HRC lots are also on offer at $590/t cfr Vietnam, another Chinese trader observes.
Offer prices for Chinese 3mm thickness Q195/Q235 grade HRC have shot up to $580-582/t cfr, up from offers at $560/t cfr just a week before. The above-mentioned Chinese SAE 1006 and commercial HRC offers are for shipment in August/early September.
Traders hear there are some bids for commercial HRC at around $577-578/t cfr Vietnam. A trader in southern Vietnam is surprised to hear of a bid for SS400 HRC at $578/t because he thinks this is rather high. “Everyone needs more time to observe the market,” he says. But market activity could come back slightly if prices keep going up, he adds.
"I think buyers still need time to accept higher prices. But I don't think cheap cargos will be available soon," a Hanoi trader comments.
The price gap between commercial-quality and re-rolling HRC is normalising to $15-20/t. Previously, traders were offering non-VAT commercial HRC cargoes or short selling when futures were weak, and the price gap was at about $30-40/t. Since such activities do not apply in the SAE 1006 segment, which is produced by the larger Chinese mills, SAE 1006 HRC prices are more stable, another southern Vietnam trader notes. Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $580-585/t cfr Vietnam, up $5 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
