Posted on 22 Jan 2016
Vietnam’s ongoing investigations into barriers on imports of billets, supported by some local steel firms, has now drawn criticism from companies which say they will see their costs rise as a result. With a decision on duties not due for at least six months, opinions are likely to remain vocal for some time, Kallanish notes.
Vietnam’s billet imports reportedly tripled from 2012 to 1.5 million tonnes in 2015, and reports suggest large volumes of Chinese-origin chromium-added material landing in Vietnamese ports. Domestic billet producers are Hoa Phat, Southern Steel, Thai Nguyen and Vietnam-Italy Steel.
Vietnam is considering imposing a 10% duty on imports of chrome-added billet following raids on importers last November to assess the scale of the issue. It is also looking at a 45% duty on all billet and a 33% duty on wire rod.
Vietnamese re-rollers however would lose out from such duties. SSE Australia Steel Company and Pomina Steel have warned that duties will add to their costs. In that case, their prices would rise and imports could switch to importing finished construction steels, which would only hurt processors based in Vietnam.
