Posted on 23 Oct 2023
The Vietnamese hot rolled coil import market remains slow with no apparent signs of a pick-up, Kallanish notes. Chinese import offers are at the same levels as the previous week. Domestic producer, Formosa Ha Tinh's (FHS) latest release of strip allocations last Thursday does not excite the market because its HRC prices are deemed as high.
Offers for Chinese-origin 3mm base thickness Q195 and 3-12mm thickness Q235 HRC are prevailing at around $520/tonne cfr and $525/t cfr Vietnam respectively, traders said on Friday. This is about the same as last week. Traders say that they are unaware of any deals this week. “There were many bookings last week and the market is still weak,” a Ho Chi Minh trader says on Friday. Last week, orders took place at around $518-523/t cfr for Q195/Q235 grades HRC. Vietnamese buyers are bidding Q195 HRC at $515-518/t cfr and at $520/t cfr for Q235 grade, a Hanoi trader says.
The import market for rerolling HRC is also stagnant. There have not been deals heard for SAE 1006 HRC from China. Several position cargoes of 30% of 2mm thickness SAE 1006 HRC, with the remaining 70% 2mm up thickness, are offered at around $550/t cfr Vietnam. Offers for back-to-back Chinese SAE 1006 2mm up thickness HRC cargoes are $560/t cfr Vietnam and higher.
Last Thursday, FHS announced that its December/January shipments for non-skin passed SAE 1006 HRC were priced at the equivalent of $580-590/t cif, depending on booking quantity. But many market sources expect that the mill will be resort to discounting to make sales. "The prices are high," a reroller says.
Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $550-560/t cfr Vietnam, down $5 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
