Flats: Vietnam's import market for commercial-grade hot-rolled coil saw falling prices and fewer transactions in February. The holidays affected market activity, while weak demand at end users caused buyers to delay orders for HRC.

Longs: The Southeast Asian rebar import market remained quiet for most of February before seeing a return in trading activity driven by low-price transactions. Many suppliers and buyers were less active ahead of the Lunar New Year. A deal for around 10,000t of theoretical-weight rebar from Malaysia for March delivery closed at $565/t trucked to Singapore during the week through 5 February. The deal was done through a trader and is a resale of a cargo which was booked earlier.

Semis: The ASEAN billet market saw prices weaken in February as demand slowed near the Chinese New Year period. Rumours about China's ban on the export of semi-finished products have been circulating in the market since the Spring Festival, but Kallanish understands that this will have a limited impact on semi-finished products transactions in Southeast Asia.

BF Raw Materials: Seaborne iron ore prices have accelerated their declines throughout February. China's hot metal production and demand softened due to the holidays, and the resulting market slump once again dragged down iron ore.

EAF Raw Materials: The scrap market has been quiet in Vietnam because of the Lunar New Year. Japanese H2 scrap offers were prevailing at up to $400/tonne cfr Vietnam after markets reopened after the Lunar New Year holiday. A price gap of $10/t between buyers and sellers has prevented deals from taking place. A mill manager in southern Vietnam cites the weakness of the VND as depressing demand for imported scrap. Previous deals for H2 scrap took place at around $395-400/t cfr Vietnam at end-January, a scrap trader observes. “The steel market is weak due to the holiday. But demand is still there for the government projects,” the trader notes. He expects steel and scrap demand to recover by end-February or early March.

Country Trade Data:

• Singapore
• Thailand
• Philippines
• Malaysia
• Indonesia
• Vietnam

» Login or subscribe to read the full report.