Vietnamese hot rolled coil producer, Hoa Phat Dung Quat, has increased its monthly domestic prices to reflect the market's improvement from the lows seen last month.
The mill raised its list sales prices by $36-37 per tonne for its latest domestic HRC price allocations on May 2nd. The company's quotes for non-skin passed SAE1006 or SS400 grade HRC, due for delivery in July, have been set at the equivalent of around $577 per tonne CFR southern Vietnam, excluding VAT.
In VND terms, the latest price of VND 14,670 per kg to southern Vietnam is VND 930 per kg lower than last month's official monthly domestic price. The mill's prices to northern and central Vietnam are set for this month at VND 14,640 per kg.
Vietnamese users and rerollers will accept the latest prices, a Hanoi trader says. This is because Hoa Phat's competitor, Formosa Ha Tinh, also priced its hot rolled coil for June/July shipment at about the same price level in mid-March. Formosa's HRC prices were officially set at around $575-591 per tonne CFR Vietnam.
Meanwhile, certain suppliers are offering low tonnage position cargoes of 3-12mm thickness Q235 HRC from China at $532-535 per tonne CFR Vietnam on Thursday despite the ongoing Labour Day holiday in China. However, a Vietnamese trader says, "These are small volume offers, we are not bothered by them."