China's export prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) dipped again last week, with Mysteel assessing the export price of SS400 3mm commercial-grade HRC at North China's Tianjin port on July 24 lower by a small $1/tonne on week at $485/tonne FOB.

During the July 20-24 week, hot coil offers from China's privately-owned steelmakers largely stood steady on week at around $488-490/t, while offers from mainstream state-owned mills were also unchanged within the range of $500-510/t FOB China.

Although some mills offered $20/t discounts to test market response during actual transaction negotiations, citing weaker domestic raw material prices as a factor undermining steel price support, overseas buyers remained hesitant, with most targeting price levels around $480/t FOB.

Market participants believe that ahead of the month-end Politburo meeting in China expected to be held this week, the market lacks new catalysts to drive prices. Mills are neither willing to offer further discounts nor have sufficient momentum to push prices higher. As a result, Chinese export prices are expected to remain range-bound in the short term.

In Vietnam, the hot coil import market was still under downward pressure last week, as offers from Indonesia and India moved into lower price ranges around $515-520/t CFR Vietnam.

On July 24, Indian SAE1006 2mm HRCs were quoted around $515/t CFR Vietnam, lower by $5/t on week. The same day, Indonesian HRC offers to Vietnam were centered around $518/t CFR Vietnam, down by $2/t from a week ago.

Despite further price corrections over the past week, Vietnam's HRC import market has yet to show clear signs of forming a bottom, with local maker Hoa Phat Group likely to reduce its HRC list prices next month by around $17-20/t to maintain competitiveness, given that its prices are still significantly higher than imported material, Mysteel Global has learned.

Notably, two large-volume HRC deals from Indonesia were concluded during last week, with transaction prices reported at $517-520/t CFR Vietnam and a combined volume estimated at around 70,000-80,000 tonnes.

Nevertheless, purchasing activity remained concentrated among several large buyers and did not yet reflect a broad-based recovery in Vietnam's HRC demand, market sources indicated.

On the other hand, HRC offers from Japanese mills and traders remained flat at $585/t CFR Vietnam. Offers for Chinese Q235B/355B and Malaysian SAE1006 3mm HRC were also unchanged on week at $580-598/t and $615/t CFR Vietnam respectively.

On July 24, Mysteel assessed China's export price for SPCC 1.0mm cold-rolled coil at Tianjin port lower by another $2/t on week at $542/t FOB.