[SMM Steel]

[Vietnam] Domestic construction steel prices remained stable. Hoa Phat quoted wire rod and rebar at approximately 574 and 546 USD/tonne, respectively, while Viet Y’s northern market offers stood at around 567 and 536 USD/tonne. Pomina and VJS quoted wire rod at approximately 571 USD/tonne in the northern market, while Kyoei and VAS offered around 579 USD/tonne in the central market. Major mills maintained their offers, with listed wire rod prices ranging from approximately 567–579 USD/tonne.

[Malaysia] Domestic S275JR HRC offers stood at approximately 2,200 MYR/tonne EXW for regular buyers and 2,230 MYR/tonne EXW for non-regular buyers. Meanwhile, 16mm B500B rebar reached 2,180 MYR/tonne EXW, up 30 MYR/tonne week on week, while C12D wire rod rose 50 MYR/tonne to 2,300 MYR/tonne delivered. Indonesian-origin 3SP billet and SAE1008 wire rod were priced at 495–500 and 525–530 USD/tonne CFR Malaysia respectively. Indonesian-origin SAE1006/SS400 slab stood at 505–510 USD/tonne CFR Malaysia. Domestic construction steel demand remained weak, providing limited support for prices.

The most-traded HRC contract closed at 3,317 today, with futures moving sideways and a full-day decline of 0.12%. In the spot market, HRC prices fell 10 yuan/mt MoM, and intraday trading weakened MoM. SMM balance data released today showed production continued to increase, while both mill inventory and social inventory destocked to some extent. Among them, HRC social inventory at 86 warehouses nationwide (large sample) tracked by SMM stood at 4.6518 million mt, down 10,700 mt MoM, or -0.23% MoM, and up 25.37% YoY on a calendar-year basis. By region, except for a larger decline in east China, other regions still saw inventory buildup. Outside China, large traders recently saw a notable improvement in coil export orders, and the expected improvement in demand in markets outside China is gradually materializing. In summary, HRC prices are expected to continue moving sideways in the short term, with continued attention on further release of restocking demand around the two holidays and the gradual recovery of market sentiment.