Posted on 18 Sep 2023
The Vietnamese hot rolled coil market remains weak, Kallanish notes. Local mill Formosa Ha Tinh's (FHS) latest domestic HRC prices, announced last Friday, drew mixed reaction from market sources.
FHS announced on 15 September that it will set the price for its new allocations of non-skin passed SAE 1006 HRC at the equivalent of $588-597/t cif Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) depending on purchase quantity. The new prices are for October/November shipment. Its previous prices for September/October shipment were $597-612/t.
The mill’s latest dollar price is “quite high,” a Hanoi mill manger says. While he notes that Chinese HRC prices are rising, he thinks that it is the SHFE which is driving prices higher. “The physical trades are not increasing much,” he says..A regional trader thinks that FHS’s latest prices would be competitive with increasing Chinese prices.The price drop is marked in dollar terms because of the VND depreciation, Vietnamese sources note. In VND, FHS' prices are almost unchanged from last month, a Hanoi trader notes.
Meanwhile, Chinese SAE 1006 HRC offers were heard less in Vietnam last week. An offer from a less popular Chinese mill is heard during the week at $568/t cfr Vietnam for 30% 2mm thickness SAE 1006 HRC
Current rerolling HRC offers are cheaper because the percentage for 2mm thickness is lower than the standard 50%, a trader in HCMC notes. The HRC market in Vietnam was at a recent low on 8 September when deals for Q195 3mm thickness HRC from China closed at $530-535/t cfr. Deals closed at around $540/t cfr Vietnam earlier in the week of 15 September. “Demand is very weak. No one thinks that there will be an improvement in the fourth quarter of this year,” he adds.
Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $565-570/t cfr Vietnam, unchanged on-week.
Earlier this month, fellow strip producer Hoa Phat Dung Quat lowered its domestic prices for non-skin passed SAE1006 or SS400 grade HRC to $588/t cfr HCMC (see Kallanish passim).
Source:Kallanish
