Asian hot-rolled prices were steady Wednesday, after Tuesday's gains, led mainly by mills’ higher offers and bids from Vietnamese buyers.

Chinese mills’ prevailing export offers were at $485-$490/mt FOB for SS400 coil for February shipment, unchanged from Tuesday, following week-on-week increase of $10-$15/mt.

“Buying indications from our clients were at least $10/mt lower than mills’ offers,” a Shanghai-based trader said.

But it might be tough to negotiate prices with mills at below $480/mt FOB at the moment, a second eastern China trader said.

Domestic market prices remained relatively stable, mainly supported by improved demand from the downstream manufacturing sector and ongoing low market demand, traders said.

On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most actively traded May 2020 contract closed at Yuan 3,538/mt Wednesday, down Yuan 2/mt or 0.1% on the day.

In Vietnam, offers and bids were essentially stable day on day Wednesday, with bids at $480-$485/mt CFR for February shipment, while offers were heard at $490-$500/mt CFR for February to March shipment. No deals were reported on the day.

Although the market outlook after the Lunar New Year holidays is unclear, stockists and coil centers still need to replenish their stocks for February shipment, a Vietnam-based trader said. Thus, they would have material for delivery to downstream buyers once the market resumes after the holidays, he added.

-- Analyst Yuelin Dai, Eve Yeo