The company announced a steep hike in HRC prices by $45-50/t m-o-m for Nov’20 deliveries.
Vietnam’s largest steel maker – Formosa Ha Tinh (FHS) has raised its HRC list prices sharply for Nov’20 delivery by $45-50/t, SteelMint learned from credible sources. This is the fourth consecutive price hike made by the company after deferring price announcement for Jun ’20 shipments for the first time in history.
Current offers:
- HRC (SAE 1006, skin pass) is offered at $550-555/t CIF basis. The last offer was at a $505/t CIF basis.
- HRC (non-skin pass) offers stand at $545-550/t CIF basis against the last offer at $500/t CIF basis.
Factors behind hike in HRC offers of Formosa-
1.Surge in imported HRC offers – Imported HRC offers to Vietnam from China are seen at $550-555/t CFR basis, up by $30/t m-o-m. HRC export prices from India increased by $30/t m-o-m at $535-540/t CFR basis. However Indian steel mills are now eyeing for $550-555/t CFR basis on higher domestic prices and limited allocations.
2.Hike in raw material prices – The global rise in iron ore prices reaching over 6.5 years high as on 4th Sep at $130.8/t, CFR China due to firm end-user demand for mainstream Australian fines keeps the Chinese imports expectation subdued. Imported Japanese scrap prices to Vietnam have jumped by $30/t m-o-m and Japanese H2 scrap offers are hovering at $313/t CFR basis.
Outlook- Thus imported HRC and domestic offers are majorly at par after the company increases HRC offers for Nov shipments. Also, towards the end of Sep’20 – Hoa Phat steel in Vietnam to commence its HRC sales in the local market. This may lead to increased domestic HRC availability in the coming months in Vietnam which may reduce reliance on imports in near term.
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