Vietnam Economic Times cited newly-released data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs as showing that steel imports escalated to 4.67 million tons during the four-month period, with a total value of US$3.13 billion. These figures indicate annual surges of 9 per cent in volume and 3.4 per cent in value.

In April, steel imports fell by more than 3 per cent in both volume and turnover against March. Howver, they still increased respectively by 11.6 per cent and 2.9 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.

The price of imported iron and steel in April slumped by 7.8 per cent on year to US$668.6 per ton, thus pulling the four-month average down 5.2 per cent to US$670.3 per ton.

China was the leading source of steel and iron imports for Vietnam during the four-month period, with a total volume of 1.95 million tons, worth US$1.22 million. This figure represents nearly 42 per cent of the Southeast Asian country’s total import volume and some 40 per cent of the total turnover.

The Republic of Korea (RoK) emerged as Vietnam’s second largest steel provider with a supply of 545,745 tons and a total turnover of US$451.78 million. These numbers dropped by 8.2 per cent in volume and 4.6 per cent in turnover, respectively.

China and the RoK were followed by Japan that exported 614,594 tons of steel to Vietnam, with the total value of US$424.94 million, plummeting by 13 per cent on year in both volume and turnover.

Elsewhere, iron and steel imports from Saudi Arabia suffered a sharp plunge of 99.7 per cent in volume and 97.9 per cent in value.

Taiwan (China), Belgium, Indonesia, France, and Malaysia were the other major sources of steel imports for Vietnam.