The Vietnamese import market for hot rolled coil continues to be firm, Kallanish understands. Suppliers continue to hike offers after every round of price acceptance. Large Chinese import buying of HRC has driven up regional prices. Market sources are uncertain if HRC prices can go up further because the market has been rising almost continuously since early April.

A cargo for 20,000 tonnes of Indian SAE 1006 2-2.7mm thickness HRC was booked at $438/tonne cfr Vietnam in the middle of the week. This follows deals for Japanese and Taiwanese SAE 1006 2mm thickness HRC at $440/t cfr earlier in the past week. Also, on 6 June, 40,000t of Russian SAE 1006 2mm and up thickness HRC was ordered by two importers at $430/t cfr Ho Chi Minh city.

Offer prices have since gone up. Traders are offering Japanese and South Korean 2mm thickness SAE 1006 HRC at $450/t cfr. While the offer for Indian HRC is $445/t cfr South/North Vietnam, $442/t would be accepted, a trader says Friday. During the week, a rare offer for 40,000t of Eygptian SAE 1006 HRC surfaced at $440/t cfr Vietnam. There are no takers, as the voyage time is long and the cargo could arrive around mid-September, a trader says. He says that the Vietnamese HRC market is being supported by improved demand domestically as well as overseas,

But another notes that Vietnamese buyers have had little choice but to follow the regional market uptrend. Nippon Steel has indicated that it will raise its export prices for August shipment to $480/t cfr Southeast Asia and Chinese mills have raised export prices a lot, he says. Iron ore prices have also risen significantly and there are market expectations that domestic mill, Formosa Ha Tinh, will hike HRC prices by $15-20/t this month. Demand for coated steel pipe and roofing products has recovered but it is still weak, so there could be a limit for the market to rise much further, he adds.  

On Friday, Kallanish assessed 2-2.7mm SAE1006 HRC at $438-442/t cfr Vietnam, up $10/t week-on-week.