Posted on 20 Jul 2016
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) has projected that steel imports into Vietnam would continue leaping, especially in the final months of 2016, when demand for construction rises.
VSA statistics showed Vietnam had imported over 9.6 million tons of steel worth US$3.42 billion in the year to date, up 48% and 1% year-on-year respectively. China is Vietnam’s largest steel exporter in the period, accounting for 60% of the total.
VSA vice chairman Nguyen Van Sua was quoted by the Vietnam News Agency as saying that although the local steel industry has expanded strongly, Vietnam remains the biggest steel importer in Southeast Asia and the seventh biggest in the world.
Cheap steel products from China, whose steel industry is facing overcapacity, are predicted to overwhelm the domestic market at the end of this year, Sua said, and local steel producers will have to scale down production or face bankruptcy if Vietnamese authorities do not protect them.
Sua suggested using import duties as a tool to protect local production. However, he stressed close cooperation among Vietnamese steel producers to improve the quality of their products and make their prices more competitive is a long-term solution.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has imposed respective temporary safeguard duties of 23.3% and 14.2% on steel ingots and long steel imported into Vietnam from many countries and territories since March 22 as a measure against cheap imports.
Around 18.7 million tons of steel was shipped into the country last year.
