Vietnam sees respite

Vietnam, held up as a success in virus containment, has not extended its 22-day isolation period beyond April 22, but hot rolled coil demand from its re-rollers has not recovered, mainly due to weak overseas demand for cold rolled coil and coated steel.

The country’s re-rollers have however been put in a stronger bargaining position for raw materials due to the deluge of HRC offers from India, Russia, Japan and South Korea, pressuring spot prices below $400/mt CFR Ho Chi Minh City.

As a result of the difficulty in getting customers to agree to its monthly list price amid a $34/mt or 8% drop in HRC spot prices over the past month, Vietnam’s top producer Formosa Ha Tinh Steel has abandoned its pricing mechanism of announcing monthly list prices in favor of bilateral negotiations, which were understood to have begun at $410-$415/mt for June shipment cargoes, down from $470/mt the previous month.