Steel, Cement Prices Expected to Remain Stable in Second Quarter

Steel, Cement Prices Expected to Remain Stable in Second Quarter

Vietnam forecast the prices of steel and cement in the country will stabilize in the second quarter of this year.

The steel price will stand at VND8 million per ton and the world steel ingot price will not sharply increase.

The cement price will remain stable because domestic enterprises can take the initiative of 80 per cent of materials. The country also has 1.9 million tons of in-stock cement and clinker.

Since early this year, under the Prime Minister’s directive to stabilize cement and steel prices, the Vietnam Steel Corp. and Vietnam Cement Corp. have instructed their affiliates to apply all measures to promote production and reduce production and circulation costs.

In the first three months of this year, construction steel prices rose slightly against late 2004. At present, retail prices are VND7.8-8 million per ton for rolled steel and VND8-8.2 million for steel bars. The imported steel ingot price stands at between US$405 and US$410 per ton.

Meanwhile, despite high cement consumption volume in the first two months, the cement prices were stable at VND7.2-7.6 million per ton in the north and VND8.4-9.2 million in the south. And early March, some cement producers decreased promotion programs so retail prices rose VND5,000-10,000 per ton.

Vietnam & World Economy