Vietnam’s imported scrap market maintained silence for the sixth consecutive week. The continue downtrend in finished steel demand slowed down scrap market activities. Despite the low offers, buyers and steelmakers are still not showing interest in booking any major slots.
Indications for imported Japanese bulk H2 scrap are at $375/t CFR, unchanged w-o-w. Prices have fallen to a three-month low, as per data maintained with SteelMint. Japanese suppliers have lowered their offers further after the recently organized Kanto scrap export tender for November. Sources highlighted that the bid price was comparatively lower than the suppliers’ target price and prevailing domestic offers, which were around JPY 49,000-50,000/t FAS for H2 grade scrap.
Lower bids from participants resulted in the tender remaining inconclusive for the second time this year after May.
Meanwhile, indicative offers for US-origin bulk HMS are at $360/t CFR Vietnam, unchanged w-o-w.
With Vietnam’s steel demand remaining subdued, mills and buyers waited for clearer market direction.
Meanwhile, scrap imports dropped by 10% m-o-m in October. The country imported around 283,490 tonnes (t) in October against 321,170 t in September, down by 12 % m-o-m. Scrap imports are down due to lower shipments from the nation’s major suppliers, with the exception of Japan and Australia, following the low demand for finished and semi-finished products in the local and export markets of Vietnam.
The country’s scrap imports dropped by 16% y-o-y compared to 337,179 t in October 2021. Similarly, total imports in January-October, 2022 stood at 3.22 million tonnes (mnt), a decline of 35% compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Production and sales of steel products
Vietnam’s economy has been quite stable in the first 10 months of 2022. The macro balances are promising, and inflation is under control. However, industries, especially the domestic steel industry, has been facing many challenges that are likely to last until the second quarter of 2023.
- Finished steel production reached 2.046 mnt, down 16.38% compared to September 2022 and down 28.7 % over the same period in 2021;
- Sales of all kinds of steel reached 1.888 mnt, down 5.53 % over the previous month and down 29.4 % over the same period.
Vietnam’s billet export offers fall w-o-w: Vietnam’s BF-grade billet export offers fell by around $20/t w-o-w. Current offers stand at around $465/t FOB. However, no active deals have been reported so far at reduced offers.
Overview of other SE Asian scrap markets
- Thailand: South American-origin HMS 1&2 (70:30) was offered at $300/t CFR, down by $5/t w-o-w. However, the market remained bearish on low demand.
- Taiwan: Indications for US-origin cargo offers were heard in the $330-$335/mt range.
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