AMM sister publication Metal Bulletin 's assessment of hot-rolled coil import prices into Southeast Asiawhich takes into account Chinese 2- to 3-millimeter SAE 1006 hot-rolled coil and equivalent grades sold into Vietnamwas $455 to $463 per tonne c.f.r. on June 19, up by $8 to $10 per tonne from $445 to $455 per tonne c.f.r. in the preceding week.

Some Vietnamese re-rollers had been waiting for several weeks to buy July-shipment cargoes as they believed that offer prices from China would eventually move downward, which has not happened, traders said.

"The shipment time offered by Indian mills is quicker than that from China, so I think some customers were waiting to buy from India," a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said on June 21.

At least two deals for India-origin material were heard concluded late last week: one at $458 per tonne c.f.r. for a 20,000-tonne cargo destined for the Phu My port in southern Vietnam, and another at $463 per tonne c.f.r. for the port of Nghi Son in the north of the country.

The cargoes were sold by two Indian steelmakers, but both are scheduled for July shipment, several sources said.

In the case of material from China, bookings were confirmed as low as $455 per tonne c.f.r. early last week and up to around $460 per tonne c.f.r. by the end of the week.

This included 10,000 tonnes of hot-rolled coil to be produced by China's Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Corp. (Wugang), sources said.

Over the past two days, news has emerged about at least 10,000 tonnes from a major Chinese steelmaker recently sold at $465 per tonne c.f.r. for August shipment.

One or two cargoes from Brazil totaling as much as 40,000 tonnes were also heard sold in recent days at around $460 per tonne c.f.r., for shipment either at the end of July or in August, sources said on Wednesday.

This is $15 per tonne higher than a deal heard closed two weeks ago at $445 per tonne c.f.r. for Brazilian material.

Formosa
Meanwhile, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp. has postponed a meeting scheduled for June 20 to decide on its domestic selling price for hot-rolled coil, a company source told Metal Bulletin .

The meeting is now expected to take place in the beginning of July.

Hot-rolled production at the plant, which has recently started to operate its blast furnace, has been "unstable," prompting the delay, the source explained.

The fact that the mill will not be able to start selling its hot-rolled coil within the next two weeks is expected to apply even more upward pressure on import prices for the finished flat-steel product, sources said.

"The market will definitely become a bit more bullish now," a trader said.