AsemconnectVietnam - According to data from Vietnam Steel Association (VSA), in June, Vietnam’s finished steel production amounted to 2.01 million tons, decreasing by 9.52% month on month and by 16.2% year on year.

Meanwhile, the sales of steel products amounted to 2.16 million tons, a month-on-month drop of 6.41% and a year-on-year decrease of 4%.
In the first six months of this year, Vietnam’s steel production went down by 20.9% year on year to 13.1 million tons, and the sales of steel products decreased by 17.5% from the same period a year ago to about 12.48 million tons.
Local HRC supply hot sale in Vietnamese market
The rising domestic demand in Vietnam has pushed up the price of imported hot-rolled coil (HRC), and Chinese and Japanese steel mills have already raised their offers first.
Under strong demand, even though Hoa Phat Steel and Ha Tinh Steel raised the base rate by around US$10-15/ton, the HRC production quota in September has been sold out.
Recently, the Chinese government released plans to stimulate the industry, and market participants are optimistic and expect to boost steel prices in Asia. However, no actual import HRC orders have been reported in the past week, and the market trend remains to be seen.
Steel producers await positive results in H2
While steel prices have continued to fall and demand remains low, the steel industry is expected to recover at the end of this year.
A recent monthly report from Việt Nam Steel Association (VSA) showed that construction steel production decreased by 9.1 per cent month-on-month to 738,196 tonnes. Sales also fell by 6 per cent to 874,441 tonnes, of which sales to international markets declined by 21.5 per cent to 149,623 tonnes.
Construction steel manufacturing output for the first half of the year totalled nearly 5 million tonnes, a 25.5 per cent decrease from the same period last year, while sales and exports decreased by 22.7 per cent and 38 per cent over last year, respectively, to roughly 5.1 million tonnes and 831,000 tonnes.
VSA said that weak steel demand in most regions of the world and negative sentiment had both weighed on the selling prices of finished steel. Also pressuring steel prices, Chinese producers were boosting exports by lowering prices at a rapid rate to compete, the association added.
Vietnam's steel exports rise 10% y-o-y in Jan-Jun'23
Steel exports by Vietnam rose 10% y-o-y in January-June, 2023 to 4.78 million tonnes as against 4.35 million tonnes in the corresponding period of last year, as per SteelMint data.
Vietnam's finished steel production during the period stood at 13.1 million tonnes, down 20.9% over the same period in 2022. In 2022, production of finished steel products totalled 29.3 million tonnes, down 11.9% y-o-y, of which hot-rolled steel products reached about 18.2 million tonnes.
Italy and Cambodia were the top importers of Vietnamese steel in H1. Italy's imports reached 660,000 tonnes, an increase of nearly 70% compared with in the corresponding period of last year. However, shipments to Cambodia dropped around 15% on the year to 560,000 tonnes.
The other leading export destinations of Vietnam were the US and Malaysia with 480,000 tonnes and 470,000 tonnes, respectively. Shipments to both countries increased by around 16% y-o-y. Notably, exports to India rose sharply to 290,000 tonnes compared with just 10,000 tonnes in same period last year.
Data from the Vietnam Steel Association show that in 2022 the ASEAN region was the largest importer of Vietnamese steel, followed by the EU, US, South Korea and Hong Kong.
Hoa Phat Dung Quat receives first tugboat from Netherlands
The Hoa Phat Dung Quat steel company has announced the reception of its first tugboat, built by Damen Group from the Netherlands, to serve the firm’s port system.Established in February 2017, the largest member company of Hoa Phat Group – Vietnam’s leading steel maker – is the investor of the Hoa Phat iron and steel complex at the Dung Quat Economic Zone, the central province of Quang Ngai.
According to Nguyen Quoc Trinh, Deputy Director of Hoa Phat Dung Quat’s general port company, the tugboat fleet was previously outsourced. Recently, the company has built its own Azimuth-technology fleet with a capacity of up to 5,000 HP.
The purpose of such investment is to support the berthing and departure of cargo ships with a length of over 80m, and to promptly respond to possible marine incidents and oil spills at the Dung Quat Economic Zone.
By the end of September, the company will receive another tugboat and put it into operation in December.
Compiled by T.Huong
Source: Vitic