Vietnam Halts Automatic Licensing for Iron, Steel Exports
The Ministry of Industry and Trade August 22 decided to halt the automatic licensing regime to domestically-made and imported iron and steel. The decision will take effect after 15 days since the official gazette publishes.
The automatic licensing has been applied to iron and steel exports since early August in a bid to prevent massive re-exports.
The decision was made after the ministry has seen no billets and finished steel re-exports, and to encourage exports of steel products in surplus in the country now, said Pham Chi Cuong, chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA).
Experts in the industry have suggested cutting the export tax on steel products that is now 20 per cent in order to encourage steel exports effectively.
According to Cuong, Vietnam exported US$1.17 billion worth of steel products in the first seven months this year, including US$720 million from export and re-export of steel ingots and hot rolled steel. (Thanh Nien, Tuoi Tre Online)
Vietnamese
