Vietnam steel sales fall 23% to 3.9 mln tons in Jan-Feb

Steel sales in Vietnam fell 23.2% year-on-year to 3.85 million tons in the first two months of this year, including one million tons for export, down 10.4%, according to the 100-member Vietnam Steel Association (VSA).

In its February report, the VSA said steel sales in the month dropped 19% year-on-year to 2.08 million tons.

In January-February, construction steel and hot-rolled coil (HRC) accounted for the biggest sales of 1.74 million tons and 901,992 tons, down 22.3% and 21.2% year-on-year, respectively.

The figures for other key products were cold-rolled coil (CRC) with 253,003 tons, down 30.3%; steel sheets with 567,514 tons, down 29.7%; and steel pipes with 392,336 tons, down 15.5%.

Hoa Phat Group remained the biggest producer of construction steel, accounting for 33.8% of the total, followed by VNSteel with 12.9%, and Formosa with 5.8%.

The VSA attributed the sales decrease to the lethargic real estate sector amid the bond market woes and the State Bank of Vietnam's credit tightening.

For export, Vietnam’s biggest markets were ASEAN with 33% of the total, followed by the EU with 19%, India with 15%, and Turkey with 10%.

In the first two months of this year, steel production plummeted by 16.3% year-on-year to 4.29 million tons, including 2.35 million tons in February, down 8.9%.

Construction steel and HRC recorded the biggest output of 1.82 million tons and one million tons, down 15.4% and 7.7% year-on-year respectively.

Other products were CRC with 437,764 tons, down 35.5%; steel sheets with 632,072 tons, down 20.6%; and steel pipes with 394,301 tons, down 3.2%.