Asian hot rolled coil prices are firm on strong Chinese import buying. A recent Chinese order of Vietnamese HRC surprised traders as it marked a reversal in traditional trade flow, Kallanish understands. Vietnam is a large importer of Chinese HRC.

A 100,000-tonne parcel of SAE 1006 HRC from Vietnam’s Formosa Ha Tinh was booked at $470-475/tonne cfr for export to China late last week. This cargo is part of the Vietnamese mill’s latest monthly sales allocation. Last Friday, Formosa announced a list price for base re-rolling HRC with skin pass at $465/t cif Vietnam. These offers were for August till early September shipments, a local trader says.

The Chinese export deal was sold through traders and the Vietnamese mill’s monthly sales for HRC are around 350,000t, Kallanish understands from informed sources. Most of the mill's HRC is for the domestic market, while export tonnage is dependent on the export price.

Vietnamese-origin HRC heading to China are exempt from the 3% import duty, unlike Indian HRC. Indian HRC transacted at $451-454/t cfr China around two weeks ago. A Chinese trader said on Wednesday he has not heard of any new deals for Indian HRC since then.

A Taiwanese mill has been exporting to China too, a Taipei trader says. This same Taiwanese mill recently sold 2mm base thickness SPHC grade HRC at $475/t cfr Manila, Philippine traders say. This is around $10/t higher than in early July.