Vietnamese producer Hoa Phat Group has announced its new local prices for HRC for December shipment on October 1, hiking them by more than $30/mt month on month. The new prices of the company reflect positive sentiments in terms of the price trend among market players given the recent hikes in ex-China HRC. However, the future trend still lacks clarity since, though Chinese sellers sharply increased their offers to Vietnam before the National Day holiday (October 1-7), demand has been recovering at a much slower pace than prices.
The new prices of Hoa Phat Group for non-skin passed SAE1006 and SS400 HRC for December shipment have settled at VND 13,500-13,530/kg ($549-550/mt) CIF, where the lower end of the range corresponds to the price in northern and central Vietnam, while the higher price is found in the south. This means that the current prices are around $32-34/mt higher than last month.
Although the higher ex-China HRC import offers for Vietnamese buyers have played a role in setting Hoa Phat’s new prices, most Vietnamese buyers still believe the new levels are too high. In particular, on Monday, before leaving for their holiday, Chinese suppliers offered their SS400/Q235 HRC at around $540-545/mt CFR, against $490-495/mt CFR at the end of last week, while offers for ex-China Q195 have been heard at $535/mt CFR, up by $50/mt week on week.
At the same time, no firm offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been voiced in Vietnam, though Vietnamese buyers have estimated the indicative prices at a minimum of $550/mt CFR. However, according to market insiders, offers for ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC have been reported at $520/mt CFR, up by $10/mt week on week. Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC has moved to $520-550/mt CFR, against $500-510/mt CFR at the end of last week.