Vietnamese steelmaker Hoa Phat Group on Sept. 3 raised its domestic hot-rolled coil offers for November shipment by $10/mt month over month, likely driven by the absence of non-valueadded tax cargoes from China, market participants said.
The mill is offering SS400 and SAE1006 coils without skin pass at Dong 13,900/kg, or $527/mt, CIF North and Central Vietnam for November shipment.
Its offer to South Vietnam was Dong 13,930/kg, or $528/mt CIF. These prices do not include value-added tax.
Market participants had anticipated this increase amid tighter Chinese tax regulations, which have driven low-priced cargoes out of the market.
This also pushed up offers in the spot market, with offers for wider-width commercial-grade coils, which fall outside the scope of the antidumping duty, hovering at $495-$500/mt CFR Vietnam, up more than $10/mt month on month.
“With the tighter tax regulations from China, buyers have no choice but to buy from local producers,” a Vietnam-based trader said.
A second Vietnam-based trader said that with the Vietnamese dong under continuous pressure, buyers prefer to purchase from domestic mills.
A third Vietnam-based trader added that major purchasers could still secure discounts of up to $10/mt for large volumes, keeping domestic prices “pretty reasonable”.
