Posted on 15 Jan 2024
Vietnam’s hot rolled coil market is quiet after prices dipped in tandem with the weaker Chinese steel and iron ore markets. Local users may not fully accept local mill Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS)’s proposed hike for its latest monthly domestic HRC prices, Kallanish is told.
FHS announced on Friday a hike of around $22/tonne in its latest monthly domestic HRC prices. The mill set its non-skin passed SAE 1006 HRC for March/April shipment at around $647-655/t cif Vietnam, depending on tonnage. The lowest price of $647/t cfr applies to bookings of 20,000 tonnes and more. SS400 and pipemaking grades are also pegged at $647-655/t, while skin-passed SAE 1006 HRC is at $5 higher.
The price is deemed too high by certain trading and mill sources. FHS will need to give discounts of at least $10-15/t, a Hanoi trader says. He heard on 11 January of a recent booking for 10,000t of Chinese 2mm and up thickness SAE 1006 HRC for March shipment at $598/t cfr. Chinese SAE 1006 HRC offers are prevailing at $615/t cfr Vietnam.
“The market is not as strong as two weeks ago,” a mill source in Hanoi said on Friday. He is uncertain if FHS will need to resort to discounting to entice buyers. The other domestic HRC producer, Hoa Phat Dung Quat, sold out its domestic HRC allocations totalling 100,000t at around $640/t cfr Vietnam about a week ago. However, its prices were released before the fall on the Shanghai Futures Exchange and other markets, he notes. “Fortunately, prices have stopped decreasing,” he adds.
Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $595-600/t cfr Vietnam, down $7.5 on-week.
An offer for a 20,000t February-shipment cargo of Indian-origin SAE 1006 HRC, 30% for 2mm thickness and the remainder for 2.3-2.5mm, has come down from the initial $635/t cfr. Trading sources hear the offer is now at $615-620/t cfr, but a Ho Chi Minh City trader says the supplier has rejected a bid at $615/t cfr.
Prices of commercial-quality HRC from China are at around $5/t lower on-week. Chinese offers for 3-12mm thickness Q235 HRC are at around $570/t cfr, and for 3mm base thickness Q195 HRC at $565/t cfr. Trading sources report bookings taking place last week at $566-568/t cfr for Q235 HRC and around $562/t cfr for Q195 HRC.
Source:Kallanish
