Vietnam: Imported scrap offers stable, domestic prices edge up

Imported scrap offers into Vietnamremained largely stable over last week. Market insiders kept away from trading activities owing to less finished steel demand in the domestic markets.

Japan-origin H2 scrap offers to Vietnam were largely stable for the last two weeks as the market players were waiting for the Kanto tender results last week. The tender was concluded at JPY 49,195/tonne (t) ($450/t), FAS. The outcome remained comparatively unsupportive of Vietnam-based buyers.

Furthermore, Japanese suppliers are keeping track of Chinese buying interest as steel mills in China have continuously increased their bids for higher grade Japanese scrap.

SteelMint’s assessment for bulk Japanese H2 stands at $495/t CFR Vietnam levels, marginally up by $3/t w-o-w.

No firm offers have been heard for US-origin bulk cargo for Vietnam for yet another week. “The US suppliers have sold out all cargoes for July shipments and it’s still too early to float new offers for August shipments. Not sure on new Vietnam offers from the US but all markets are strong and prices are up at the moment,” said a prominent scrap trader.

Domestic scrap purchase prices up $22/t: Scrap prices in Vietnam rose by VND 500/kg ($22/t) on 11 Jun’21 after falling by a total of VND 2,100/t in just one week, sources informed SteelMint. The new purchase prices for the H1 scrap are at VND 10,000/kg ($430) and VND 9,700/kg ($420) for the H2 grade. After hitting their lowest in the last week, scrap purchase prices rebounded.

Vietnam market update

• Vietnam mills conclude billet export deals: BF-route billets offers from the country dropped sharply by $20/t, towards the closing of last week, amidst the volatile rebar futures market. According to SteelMint sources, BF-route offers are at $670/t FoB, while IF- route is at around $660/t FoB. A leading mill concluded a 20,000-t billets export deal at $670/t FoB last week.
• Ferrous scrap imports up 13% in May’21: South East Asia’s largest importer of ferrous scrap, Vietnam imported 620,000 t of the material in May’21, up 13% against 550,000 t in Apr’21. Japan retained its position as the top scrap supplier to Vietnam with steady imports in May followed by the US and Australia. Vietnam’s scrap imports rose on global trends and were supported by demand for steel billets.
• Steel imports rise sharply in 5 months:  Vietnam imported more than 6 mn t of iron and steel products in the first five months of CY’21, an increase of 38% year-on-year compared to Jan-May’20, as data from the General Statistics Office shows. China was the largest steel exporter followed by Japan, South Korea, and India.

Imported scrap offers for Thailand firm: Central American-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) is being offered at $430/t CFR, unchanged since the last two weeks. However, not many deals were heard to have been concluded last week, SteelMint learned from market sources. On the other hand, Australia-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) stands at $460/t CFR Thailand.

Indonesian offers stable: Imported scrap offers for Indonesia too stayed mostly stable. The most preferred PNS grade from Hong Kong was being offered at $505-510/t CFR Jakarta.