Vietnam to increase steel imports
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) said Vietnam is likely to increase steel imports, especially at the year’s end when the construction demand surges.
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Since the beginning of 2016, the country has imported over 9.6 million tonnes of steel of all kinds, worth around US$3.42 billion, showing a year-on-year rise of 48% in quantity and 1% in value.
Up to 60% of the imported steel was from China, according to the VSA.
Vice Chairman of the association Nguyen Van Sua said Vietnam remains the biggest steel importer in Southeast Asia and seventh in the world.
In 2015, the country imported about 18.7 million tonnes of finished and semi-finished steel.
Businesses are still importing steel billets and finished steel, though the Ministry of Industry and Trade imposed temporary safeguard duties of 14.2 – 23.3% on the products.
China’s cheap steel is forecast to continue flowing into Vietnam to the end of this year. If Vietnamese businesses do not take self-protection measures, they would face declining productivity and even bankruptcy, Sua said.
He suggested imposing safeguard duties in the foreseeable future and encouraged domestic enterprises to forge links to enhance their competitiveness and quality of their steel products in the long run.
