Posted on 14 Mar 2024
Vietnam’s Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS) has announced new monthly domestic hot rolled coil prices which may be too high for the current weak market to accept, Kallanish understands. In dollar terms, the mill’s latest prices are $5/t lower than last month because of the dong’s depreciation against the USD. But the mill has actually set its VND-denominated list prices unchanged from last month.
The mill released on Wednesday its non-skin passed SAE 1006 HRC for May/June shipment at the equivalent of around $593-600/tonne cif Vietnam, depending on tonnage. This is the same price level for its SS400/pipe-making grade HRC. The price for the mill's skin-passed HRC is $3/t higher.
Trading sources in Vietnam say that the announced prices are too high and the mill will probably need to discount its prices to close deals. The mill may need to lower its prices $15-20/t to be competitive, a Hanoi trader says. He hears of an offer from a Chinese Tier II mill for 2mm and up thickness SAE 1006 grade HRC currently floating at around $560/t cfr Vietnam.
Rival Hoa Phat Dung Quat's announced prices in its latest domestic HRC price allocations on 1 March are also deemed to be too high. The company's quotes for non-skin passed SAE1006 or SS400 grade HRC for May/June delivery were set at the equivalent of around $595/t cfr southern Vietnam (see Kallanish passim). When the price announcement was made, traders predicted that the mill would resort to discounting to get sales. "I heard that they gave a $10/t discount," another trader reports on Wednesday. The Vietnamese HRC market is depressed amid sluggish end-user domestic demand and weak export markets for Vietnam's coated products.
Source:Kallanish
