Posted on 25 Sep 2023
The Vietnamese hot rolled coil market remains sluggish, Kallanish notes. Weak domestic and export demand continue to depress buying interest. Price volatility has also been denting market sentiment.
Chinese HRC offers are at unchanged levels for the past several weeks, trading sources said on Friday. Chinese-origin SAE 1006 2-2.5mm thickness HRC offers are prevailing at $570-575/tonne cfr Vietnam. These are for 50% 2mm thickness material. Offers are limited, with some Vietnamese traders saying they did not receive quotes during the week.
There are also several lower offers for 30% 2mm thickness SAE HRC at around $560/t cfr in the market. Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $565-570/t cfr Vietnam, unchanged on-week.
Offers for Chinese SS400 and Q235 grade HRC were at $540/t cfr on Friday, which is the price reported for the latest transaction that occurred in mid-September. There are small orders taking place but very limited tonnages, a Hanoi mill manager says. “Stockists are trying to sell off their inventories,” he adds. Chinese prices rose at the start of the week, a Ho Chi Minh trader notes, while low bids tabled then were rejected by sellers. “I think buyers want to wait since demand is still weak,” he adds.
Formosa Ha Tinh Steel's (FHS) latest domestic prices did not stir much market interest. The mill pegged its new allocations of non-skin passed SAE 1006 HRC for October/November shipment at the equivalent of $588-597/t cfr, depending on booking quantity. The mill’s latest prices are VND 10,000/t ($0.41/t) lower than last month. However, in dollar terms, this is a more significant $10-15/t drop, because of VND depreciation.
“Demand is still low but I think FHS secured its domestic allocations of around 120,000-130,000 tonnes,” the Hanoi mill manager says. He adds this is because domestic customers need to keep monthly bookings stable with their supplying mills.
“Vietnamese demand [for coated steel] is slow and it is the same with the US/EU/Mexico,” a manager with a southern Vietnam galvaniser says. “People think that prices will keep going down till the end of the year so they prefer to wait and see.”
Source:Kallanish
