Prices for hot-rolled coil in Asia maintained their downward trend in the past week amid rampant short-selling and a weakening raw materials market upstream.
Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel HRC, import, cfr Vietnam - which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm re-rolling-grade SAE1006 HRC and equivalent products sold into Vietnam - was $495-497 per tonne on Tuesday August 13, down by $5-18 per tonne from $500-515 per tonne a week earlier.A transaction involving 20,000 tonnes of September-shipment India-origin HRC was heard at $495 per tonne cfr Vietnam while another involving Chinese HRC was heard to have been concluded at $497 per tonne cfr.Offers were heard at $495-500 per tonne cfr Vietnam for position cargoes."Most sellers are hawking position cargoes now in light of the bearish trend, with no inquiries for back-to-back materials from buyers," a...