SE Asia’s largest ferrous scrap importer- Vietnam has imported 1.25 mn t of scrap in Q1 CY’21, drop by 6% y-o-y against CPLY, as per data maintained with SteelMint.
However, monthly scrap imports recorded at 0.55 mn t in Mar’21, higher by 72% as compared to 0.32 mn t in Feb’21. The surge in March was attributed to a weaker February, which is historically a slower month for imports due to the Lunar New Year break.
Vietnam’s keen demand for scrap grew alongside recovering local and export steel markets and expanding production capacities. The country’s largest steelmaker, Hoa Phat, started up a new 1,080 cum blast furnace at its Dung Quat complex in January, in turn driving up overall raw material demand for BOF-based steel production. Robust domestic demand along with active billet inquiries from China have kept scrap imports supported.
Vietnam imports from Japan dropped in Q1 CY’21 – Japan continued to be the top scrap supplier to Vietnam in first quarter of 2021 and stood at 0.62 mn t, down by 23% against 0.8 mn t in Q1 CY’20. Imports from other major exporting countries – like US imports moved up by 50% y-o-y and being at 0.27 mn t in Q1’21, followed by Australia and Hong kong.
Vietnam imported scrap prices rise in Feb’21- SteelMint’s monthly average price assessment for bulk H2 scrap stood at $410/t CFR Vietnam in Feb’21 (up by 9% m-o-m) and US bulk HMS (80:20) at $420/t CFR Vietnam in Feb’21 (up by 7% m-o-m).
Outlook – Active Chinese buying interest are expected to keep Vietnam billet exports supported. Thus, Vietnam scrap imports may remain supported too, however volumes from Japan may see slighter decline amid limited offers on freight volatility and vessel availability issue.
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