Vietnam mills book 50,000 t HRC at increased prices
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End users in Vietnam are actively seen booking imported HRC for end Sep loading cargoes at increased prices. Although domestic steel mill -Formosa is offering HRC at a comparatively lower price, improved demand has pushed buyers to go for imported HRC. Vietnam imports roughly around 7-10 mn t of HRC annually.
Confirmed trades
- Major Indian steel mill booked around 10,000-20,000 t HRC for exports to Vietnam near to $515/t CFR levels for Sep end shipments. Last week an Indian supplier sold around 20,000 t of HRC to Vietnam based Hoa sen at $510/t CFR basis for Sep end/early Oct shipments.
- Meanwhile, a Japanese steel mill booked around 30,000 t of HRC to Vietnam at $510-515/t CFR basis for Sep end shipments.
Reasons driving imported HRC offers
- Indian steel mills have limited allocation for exports since they shifted their focus to domestic sales. Thus they have raised their HRC export offers to Vietnam. Indian mills are aiming for $520/t CFR Vietnam for Oct shipments. Indian domestic HRC prices have increased by around INR 3,500/t ($47) m-o-m so far in Aug and are hovering at one-year high levels.
- Similarly, Chinese steel mills are less interested to export at lower prices on robust demand and improved profit margins in the domestic market.
- Japanese mills are also observing demand recovery and mills are ramping up production.
On the other hand, Vietnam's domestic mill Formosa Ha Tinh is offering HRC (SAE1006, skin pass) at $505/t CFR basis for Oct deliveries and it's open for negotiations. The company is, however, offering differential pricing for various kinds of customers, said a source.
