Asian hot-rolled coil prices were unchanged Jan. 18 as the Chinese and Vietnamese markets were quiet ahead of the week-long Lunar New Year or Tet break.
Platts assessed SS400 HRC 3 mm thick at $632/mt FOB China and $623/mt CFR Southeast Asia, both unchanged on the day.
Platts assessed SAE1006 HRC at $642/mt FOB China and $639/mt CFR Southeast Asia, both unchanged on the day.
The Chinese HRC futures exchange rose, according to an eastern China trader, after Vice-Premier Liu He at the Word Economic Forum affirmed the importance of economic development and said that the real estate sector is a pillar for the country's economy.
The most actively traded May contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at Yuan 4,196/mt, up Yuan 48/mt on the day. The spot price of Q235 5.5 mm HRC was assessed up Yuan 10/mt on the day at Yuan 4,200/mt ($621.28/mt) ex-stock Jan. 18, including value-added tax.
“Domestic offer is at Yuan 4,240/mt as there are very few offers available in the market, but this price is hard to deal,” a Shanghai-based trader said.
A Vietnamese trader said that prices would typically go up in the short-term after the holidays, but the trend after that uptick is not so clear now.
Market participants in Vietnam have mostly started their Tet holidays. A Vietnamese trader said the customers did not care about prices now.
Trading activity continues elsewhere in Japan, South Korea, and India. POSCO was almost done with its March HRC shipment, and its next offer will be at the beginning of February for April or May shipment, a company source said. “European market is different from Southeast Asia, market price is higher, and we managed to conclude deals at higher prices than Southeast Asia,” the source said.
A major Indian producer said, they were not looking at Asia but the European region as their export volume was limited.
In Japan, Nippon Steel Corp. released its offers for March shipments. Plenty of inquiries with bids were received and negotiations have started, according to a company source. “The trend is going upward, and market forecasts a price increase, so buying activity starts again but this may not be equivalent to demand going up. It’s still too early to decide if demand has come back or not,” the company source said.
