Vietnam’s Formosa Ha Tinh has raised its monthly domestic coil offer prices by a massive $40/tonne for April shipments. The hike takes its prices in line with prevailing imported material, Kallanish notes.

For April shipments, SAE1006 re-rolling grade coils are priced at $535/t cif compared to $495/t cfr cif for March shipments. SPHT3, S235JR, SG255 and SS490 grade coils are correspondingly priced at $555/t, while hot rolled band without skin pass is priced at $530/t. SS400 coil secures a $5/t discount and pipemaking grades also secure a $5/t discount. Ha Tinh sells its steel effective cif Ho Chi Minh City because of the customs status of the site.

The Vietnamese coil import market has firmed sharply since January on strong buying activity as well as the rally in the iron ore market brought about the Vale dam collapse.  

Chinese trading sources deem Formosa’s price hike as sensible as its material remains competitive against imported material. SAE 1006 rerolling 2-2.5mm thickness HRC from a leading Chinese HRC mill was ordered last week at $540/t cfr Vietnam. 

HRC sales have been good in Vietnam but availability of lower-priced position cargoes is moderating the market's rise, a Chinese trader says Wednesday. He heard that a Vietnamese stockist ordered position cargoes of rerolling and pipemaking SAE 1006 HRC  from China for March/April shipments last week at $518-525/t cfr. Last Friday, a position cargo of 5,000t of SAE 1006 rerolling HRC from a Tier 1 Chinese mill was booked at $542/t cfr, a Vietnamese trader reports.

However, an Indian trader says Formosa’s price hike on Wednsday could have been $10/t higher or $545/t cif for SAE 1006 rerolling HRC. Indian HRC is already priced at $550/t cfr, he says. Indian SAE1006 HRC was ordered at $535/t cfr last Tuesday, Indian trading sources say.  Last Thursday, a leading reroller ordered 10,000t of HRC from the same Indian mill at $540/t cfr Vietnam.