Stable growth predicted for steel consumption until year’s end
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) predicts that consumption for steel in both domestic and foreign markets will maintain stable growth until year’s end, after rises in production and sales over the last 10 months.
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| A worker examines products at a factory of the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel JSC |
He noted some factors that may affect global steel consumption, including US tariffs on Turkey, winter production cuts in China and US-China trade tension. Demand for the product in Europe is forecast to increase by 2.2% this year, driven by surging auto and construction demand.
In the domestic market, steel production and sales are enjoying fast growth and this trend will likely maintain through December, he added.
VSA data showed that more than 20 million tonnes of steel products were manufactured between January and October, up 17.7% year on year. More than 18 million tonnes of steel were sold with some 3.9 million tonnes exported, respective increases of 27.7% and 31.6%.
Construction steel is one of the products enjoying the best growth recently, with more than 8.3 million tonnes produced in the 10 months, up 9.8%, and almost 8.3 million tonnes were sold, up 13.8%.
Hoa Phat topped the construction steel market share with 23.45%, followed by the Vietnam Steel Corporation (17.5%), Pomina (9.97%), Posco SS (9.35%), and Vinakyoei (8.38%), according to the VSA.
