Vietnam’s Hoa Phat steel bagged its first export order of 10,000mt sheets to Thailand. Davis Index heard offers for HRC at $500-505/mt cfr Vietnam and cfr China, up $10-15/mt from the prior week. Prices remained high on improved demand from the ASEAN markets as most infrastructure projects are expected to resume in August. Sales of Hoa Phat’s pipe and flat products segments have increased post the COVID-19-related lockdown.
July sales
Hoa Phat group’s steel pipe shipments were at 75,200mt in July, including exports. Sales rose by 7pc from the prior year. Domestic steel demand recovered in July after easing of the pandemic restrictions. In the domestic market, demand for pipes has increased by 18pc in the northern region and by 9.3pc in the southern region. Hoa Phat is the leading supplier of steel in Vietnam with 32pc market share.
In January-July period, Hoa Phat group sold 422,300mt of pipes. Export shipments rose by 16pc to 10,800mt from the prior year. Major export destinations were the US, Canada, Australia, Mexico and Southeast Asia.
Hoa Phat’s new launches such as TMM, TML and TMK have gained acceptance in the market. The share of products in the domestic market increased with the company receiving acceptance for some government-initiated infra projects. The company’s premium diamond sheet has gained acceptance.
Outlook
The steelmaker aims to keep its pipe output stable for the year 2020 against 2019. Hoa Phat plans to produce 770,000mt of pipes in 2020. It plans to manufacture around 3.5-3.6mn mt of construction steel in 2020.
The company plans to invest in improving products’ quality and introducing new products, especially large pipes with super large diameters like round pipe dia. 273 and dia. 325mm, square box 200×200, 250×250 mm, rectangular tube 200x300mm, pipe thickness up to 12mm. The products have been widely used for many projects across the country.
According to Viet Nam Steel Association (VSA), in the first half of the year, the steel pipe exports by its member companies reduced sharply by 17.3pc from the prior year period.