Steel industry sees slowdown
The domestic steel industry has seen a slowdown in recently months with weak steel sales and price drops, according to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA).
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VSA members produced over 730,000 tonnes of steel in April, an increase of 3.6% from the same period last year, but a decrease of 14.26 percent from the previous month, said VSA Vice President Nguyen Van Sua.
More than 635,000 tonnes of steel were sold last month, down 14% year on year and 20% from March, he said.
Sua added that the domestic price of steel in April was VND400 – 700 per kilogramme lower than that of March, fetching at VND10,600 – 10,800 per kilogramme (VAT excluded) and is likely to fall even more.
The price of scrap steel went down by US$20 – 25 per tonne to US$255 – 265 per tonne while that of steel billets has declined by US$20 – 25 per tonne since April 24 to about US$390 – 400 per tonne.
Local producers continued to offer discounts and price guarantees to customers and suffer fierce competition from exported steels, further worsening the situation.The association advised the domestic steel producers to help stablise the market by revoking price guarantees and reducing discounts. It also encouraged information exchange and cooperation between the producers to ensure a healthy business environment.
