The offer price for Chinese 3-12mm thick S400 hot-rolled coil
for shipments in October fell sharply on Friday to $580-585/tcfr Ho Chi Minh
City, bidders in Vietnam and China said. Offers come from traders who
underestimate these loads.
“There
is a big drop in prices today,” a South Vietnamese trader said on Friday. But
he believes the latest prices for Chinese offerings are "reasonable"
amid continued losses in China's steel futures markets. Chinese-made SS400 hot
rolled steel traded at $610-618/t cfr Vietnam during August 1-3 after falling
to a low of around $570/t franc in mid-July.
Demand in Vietnam's hot-rolled steel segment is still lower than
for SS400 hot-rolled steel. “There is no way to offer material because there is
no demand,” says a Chinese trader. According to a Vietnamese trader, some
traders are also selling uncoated open source materials, whether Indian or
Chinese SAE 1006 HRC, at US$600 per tonne of francs. Another says an international
trader is offering Taiwanese origin HRC SAE 1006 for October delivery at $595/t
in Vietnam. He understands that the trader can deliver 40,000 tons. “Prices
have dropped again,” he adds.
Callanish
priced SAE 2-2.7 mm thick hot-rolled steel at $595-600/t cfr Vietnam, $10/t
less than in a week.