Vietnam’s hot rolled coil import market is deteriorating in tandem with the fallout in the Chinese futures market, Kallanish notes. Aggressive suppliers are pressing down prices by floating lower-priced short-selling offers of Chinese commercial quality HRC in the market.
On Friday, offers for 3-12mm thickness Q235B HRC for May shipments from China are prevailing at $515/t cfr Vietnam compared to $520/t cfr earlier the same week and $535/t during the week through 22 March. For 3mm base thickness Q195 HRC, offers on Friday had slumped to $502-505/tonne cfr, down from $510-515/t cfr earlier the same week and down from $525/t cfr during the 22 March week.
The offers are for new production material, a trader in Ho Chi Minh City says. He and others report that there were some concluded deals at low levels. “Very cheap” bookings took place at $500/t cfr for Q195 and for Q235 HRC at $510-512/t cfr, a Hanoi trader says. “It is very crazy these days. Agents are very aggressive and are short selling at even lower prices,” he says.
Several offers for rerolling 2mm up thickness SAE 1006 HRC also fell to $540-545/t cfr Vietnam, down from $550-555/t cfr earlier in the week. Offers are prevailing at $530/t fob China, a Chinese trader says Friday. But he has heard of certain suppliers aiming to presell at $530/t cfr. Kallanish is unable to confirm this low price level.
Kallanish assessed SAE grade 2-2.7mm thickness HRC at $540-550/t cfr Vietnam, down $20 on-week.
Source: Kallanish
