Posted on 03 Oct 2023
Vietnam’s Hoa Phat Dung Quat has cut its list prices for domestic hot rolled coil sales due for delivery in November, Kallanish notes.
The quotes for non-skin passed SAE1006 or SS400 grade HRC have been set at the equivalent of around $570/tonne cfr Vietnam, a drop of around $18/t from last month. The fall is substantial in dollar terms due to the depreciation of the VND against the greenback.
In VND terms, the mill actually lowered prices by VND 240/kg ($9.80/t) from a month earlier to VND 13,950/kg cfr Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). For sales to northern and central Vietnam, list prices are now at VND 13,920/kg, the company announced on Monday. All prices exclude VAT.
Market sources mostly deem the price cut as necessary in view of weak demand. “Domestic prices of pre-painted coated steel have been reduced continuously, so demand for HRC is still weak,” a trader in HCMC says. “They [Hoa Phat] reduced prices perhaps because the export market is not good.”
Another HCMC trader thinks the mill’s new prices are “good” because they are competitive with Chinese HRC exports. While Chinese commercial-quality HRC was cheaper last week and transacted at $530-535/t cfr Vietnam, some clients will prefer to buy either from Formosa Ha Tinh or Hoa Phat for certain projects which prefer non-Chinese material. Chinese-origin SAE 1006 HRC prices were last at around $570/t cfr Vietnam.
“I don’t think that the market will change much after the Chinese holiday,” a Hanoi trader says. He sees customers accepting Hoa Phat’s prices because he thinks Chinese mills will return with no export price changes.
There are others who are awaiting China’s return from the holiday. “Right now, the market is still weak,” a re-roller in HCMC says. He notes that most buyers are preferring to wait for “several more days” to see what happens after the Chinese holiday.
A regional trader wants to do the same. “The market is full,” he observes. “[We] have to see where the Chinese come in after the holidays.”
Source:Kallanish
