Posted on 07 Aug 2023
The decline in Chinese hot rolled coil export prices has sparked some buying for commercial quality HRC in Vietnam, Kallanish understands. Some Vietnamese importers were willing to accept offers after they slipped by $20/tonne week-on-week.
Deals for Q195/Q235/SS400 grade HRC took place at $560/t cfr on Thursday. One Vietnamese trader estimates combined volume was around 10,000 tonnes, while another says the orders were a minimum of 10,000t.
Offers during the latest price cycle peaked at around $580-585/t cfr last week. The market remains volatile: offers rose during the morning of 4 August to $568-570/t cfr only to fall back in the afternoon to around $562/t cfr, a Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) trader says.
Offers for position stock lots of Chinese SAE 1006 HRC are prevailing at around $580/t cfr Vietnam. One such offer, as seen by Kallanish, is for 2,000t of 2-3mm thickness strip at $585/t cfr Vietnam for shipment by early September, but the supplier is inviting bids at $580/t cfr.
A 1,000t parcel of 2-2.7mm thick HRC for shipment by mid-September is being offered at $588/t cfr. “Prices are down. Many traders are offering position September-shipment cargoes at lower prices at $570-580/t cfr,” another HCMC trader says. Offers for 2mm up thickness SAE 1006 grade HRC from China had risen to $595-600/t cfr at end-July.
Vietnamese producer Hoa Phat announced on 1 August that it was hiking the price of its non-skin passed SAE1006 or SS400 grade HRC for September shipment to around $600/t cfr HCMC, up some $20/t from last month.
The mill has just sold out its most recent domestic and export allocation of around 300,000t, sources close to the company say. "The market is accepting the mill's prices because demand is stable, and they still need to restock," a source says. “No one will know about the actual booking volumes except those [people] in Hoa Phat,” the first HCMC trader says.
Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $580-585/t cfr Vietnam, unchanged on-week.
Source:Kallanish
