Vietnam’s steel industry faces more lawsuits
Vietnam’s steel and steel products have been subject to many anti-dumping lawsuits in recent years.
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By the end of 2017, of 124 lawsuits against Vietnam’s export products, 30 were related to steel. Most of them were anti-dumping lawsuits.
Some analysts commented that high duties would cause Vietnam to lose the Indonesian market. However, the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) said the demand of the market is large and Vietnam’s steel sheet exports would find a way to compete effectively.
It is expected that steel demand in Indonesia and the Philippines will be increasing. Meanwhile, ASEAN-6 countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brunei) still expect positive steel consumption index with consumption level exceeding 90 million tons by 2019.
This is good news for Vietnamese enterprises as they can boost exports to regional markets.
According to VSA, South East Asia consumes 60 percent of Vietnam’s total exports, and the US 12 percent.
Vietnam is believed to have the strongest production capacity in Southeast Asia in cold rolled steel and galvanized steel. Its steel mills use advanced technologies and make high-quality competitive products.
With the high demand, Indonesian enterprises alone will not be able to satisfy market demand.
VSA’s chair Ho Nghia Dung said Indonesia may have decided to impose anti-dumping duties on Vietnam’s color-coated steel sheet because it thinks Vietnam imports materials from China to make the product.
“VSA had a working session with enterprises. It is highly possible that Vietnamese enterprises will have to cut exports to the market. But there is no need to worry about the loss of the market,” Dung said, adding that demand for color-coated steel sheets is high.
Dung went on to say that Vietnamese enterprises had prepared well for anti-dumping lawsuits by expanding export markets.
They have been boosting exports to the US, the EU and Southeast Asia. The anti-dumping lawsuits won’t affect Vietnamese enterprises much, especially when exports to Indonesia only account for a small proportion in total domestic consumption and exports.
Vietnamese steel manufacturers are now concerned about the US market.
US Customs will collect anti-dumping duties of 199.8 percent and countervailing duty of 256.4 percent on Vietnam’s cold-rolled steel made of substrate steel sourced from China.
The DOC has also announced that it will impose similar anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Vietnam’s corrosion-resistant steel and cold rolled steel originating from Chinese hot rolled coil.
