Vietnam Imports 139,479 Tons of Rolled Steel Jan-May
Vietnam reportedly imported 139,479 tons of rolled steel in the first five months of this year, down 53.5 per cent on-year, Labor newspaper said Friday, citing the Vietnam General Department of Customs’ statistics.
The country bought up to 29,000 tons of rolled steel in the first fortnight of May, equivalent to the whole importation figure in April, said the department, noting that the imported volume of rolled steel jumped to 40,000 tons in only the first ten days of this month.
The increasing selling prices of steel in the Vietnamese market have been attributed to the massive importation of low-cost steel during recent months, hindering sales of domestically-made steel, said the Vietnam Steel Corporation (Vnsteel).
Since early April, Vnsteel has lifted its selling prices six times with a combined increase of around VND1 million/ton, said the corporation.
At present, factory production prices of rolled steel stands at VND10.6 million-VND10.8 million/ton (excluding VAT) and steel bars of VND10.9 million-VND11.3 million/ton (excluding VAT).
The country imported US$1.639 billion worth of iron and steel between Jan and May, down 60.8 per cent on-year, the Government’s General Statistics Office (GSO) said.
Currently, the Vietnamese steel industry has about 30,000 workers, including only 5 per cent of qualified workers, 10 per cent-15 per cent of unskilled labors and 50 per cent-60 per cent technical staff. (Labor June 19 p3, Vietnam Economy Times)
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