SINGAPORE April 29 2016 10:39 AM    

SINGAPORE (Scrap Register): ASEAN  hot rolled cold (HRC) steel import prices (CFR ASEAN port) shot up by $45 a ton  week-on-week to $442 a ton in the week ended April 15, as per the latest figures  released by The Steel Index

According to TSI, ASEAN HRC index finished  the week at $442 a ton, a $45 a ton rise from last Friday. The index moved up at  an increasing speed during the week, slowing down only on Friday.

Despite the scale of increases in Chinese  export offers at the beginning of the week, a sharp rise in Chinese domestic  prices convinced Vietnamese buyers to start making orders.

As a result,  trading activity picked up, although transaction prices varied significantly  from deal to deal. With the limited supply, bargaining power was in producers’  hands, although some traders, who took positions earlier in the month at lower  prices, were able to offer cargoes $10-15 a ton below Chinese mills’ latest  asking prices.

Russian-origin HRC was heard offered to Vietnam at  $450-460 a ton for July shipment, while Taiwanese and Japanese material was  absent from the market. All prices quoted on a CFR ASEAN port basis.