The Vietnamese market is closed since the beginning of the current week and is likely to resume by 5 May, 2022. This is keeping most of the players away from quoting offers for hot rolled coils (HRC) in the market. “Market activities are on hold for the next couple of days amid the Labour Day/ Liberation/Reunification day holidays being observed in the country,” shared a reliable source based in Vietnam.
However, offers for Chinese HRCs (SS400) had dropped to $810/t CFR Vietnam towards the end of the previous week as compared with $820-830/t CFR at the beginning. Chinese HRCs (SAE1006) were heard at around $850-860/t CFR at the beginning of the previous week.
Moreover, other countries like Japan and South Korea are showing limited interest in the market with inconsistencies in their quotes over the past couple of months.
Furthermore, the buyers based in Vietnam have been showing high interest in procuring HRCs domestically which have kept the overseas trade limited in the market since the beginning of CY22. For instance, imports of finished steel products in Vietnam have stood at around 3 mnt in the January-March, 2022 quarter, with 1 mnt booked in each month as per data from the Vietnamese Steel Association.
Near-term outlook
The domestic steel majors are likely to announce their prices for July-early August sales by the middle of next week. Thus, market participants are of the opinion that demand for imported HRCs will remain limited through this period with holidays being observed in between.
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