Vietnamese Hoa Phat Raises HRC Prices Slightly

Hoa Phat Group has raised domestic prices for its new shipments of hot rolled coil by about $55 per ton. The price of SAE1006 or SS400 hot rolled steel that has not been surface treated is set at the equivalent of approximately US$650/t (VND15,300/kg) in Hai Phong and US$652/t in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ). Prices are for deliveries in March/early April and do not include VAT.

Market optimism in China ahead of the Lunar New Year has spurred market speculation that new mill prices for hot-rolled steel will be US$560/tonne francs or more. Traders forecast last week that China's SS400 3-12mm hot rolled steel supply would rise to $650/t in Vietnam this week.

The increase in prices in Hoa Phat is “very small because other countries can accept this price or even higher,” says a trader close to the manufacturer. But domestic buyers in Vietnam cannot accept higher prices, he says. The mill doesn't have much money to export because the Dung Quat steel plant has two of its four blast furnaces in operation.

“The announced prices are not high and are related to the fall of the Chinese (SHFE) market,” the Chinese trader notes. On the morning of January 31, a certain Chinese plant offered hot-rolled steel grade SS400/Q195 with a thickness of 3-12 mm at a price of $637/t from HCMC or Haiphong. This plant was ready to accept about $628-630/t/t on the same day due to lower prices for SHFE in China.

On the same day, SHFE fell to 4,100 yuan per tonne ($608 per tonne) from 4,300 yuan on Wednesday, a Chinese trader notes. HRC trade from this particular Chinese plant ended at $620-$625/t in Vietnam that day, Chinese trade sources said.