Vietnamese steel major, Formosa Ha Tinh, has increased HRC prices by $33/t m-o-m for May 2023 shipments. Subsequent to the revision, prices of HRC (SAE1006, skin pass) stand at $732/t CIF Ho Chi Minh City. Meanwhile, non-skin pass coils are at around $727/t CIF, sources informed.
Factors driving up offers –
1. Hike in imported HRC offers:
- China: HRCs (SAE1006) were heard offered at $700-705/t, unchanged against last week. Offers for HRCs (SS400) still stand at around $690/t CFR. Offers increased by around $30 m-o-m.
- Indian mills are buying their time to start quoting higher offers for April shipments.
- Japanese and South Korean mills continued to focus on better opportunities in the US market.
- No offers from Russia were heard this week.
2. Supporting price trends in global market: Global market prices have increased. For instance, World’s top steel manufacturer, Baosteel, has lifted HRC prices by RMB 200/t ($29/t) m-o-m for April 2023 sales. The company has increased prices for the fourth consecutive time in a row amid high production costs, rising global HRC prices and an increase in raw material prices.
3. Chinese HRC futures rise w-o-w: Chinese HRC futures (May 2023 contracts) on SHFE rose w-o-w along with the increase in domestic HRC prices. Settled prices of HRC futures were at RMB 4,463/t ($607)/t) on 14 March, up RMB 122/t w-o-w ($18/t). The same stands higher by RMB 352/t ($51/t) as against the level on 14 February 2023.
4. Vietnam’s steel exports rise in Feb’23: Vietnamese steel exports in February 2023 stood at 0.74 mnt as against 0.58 mnt in January. Cambodia and Italy were the leading importers in February at 0.11 mnt and 0.1 mnt respectively, followed by Malaysia (0.09 mnt), and the US (0.06 mnt).
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