Vietnamese steelmakers are facing severe competition from Southeast Asian exporters who benefit from Vietnam’s zero tariff policy.
Since mid-February, steel from Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia is available at around VND9.5 million (US$562) a ton, or VND800,000 less than domestic prices.
Steel exports within the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are exempt from tariffs. The group’s members are Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Thep Viet (Viet Steel) Corporation chief executive Do Duy Thai said cheap exports from ASEAN are threatening the local steel industry, which has already been hit hard by falling sales.
According to the Vietnam Steel Association, some steel plants in the country now operate at only 30 per cent-40 per cent of their capacity.
Pham Chi Cuong, chairman of the association, said that steelmakers in many countries are trying to expand exports as demand declines at home.
Vietnamese producers therefore need to consider their pricing policies carefully to compete with imports, he counseled.
His association would propose a tax hike on imports from non-ASEAN countries to ease the pressure on local producers, he said.
Russian and Ukrainian exporters, for instance, are dumping their products, he added.
Thai said though Russian exporters are taxed 12 per cent, they sell their products at slightly higher prices than ASEAN exporters.
(Thanh Nien Daily)
Vietnamese
