Consumption of steel to rise 8%

About 11.7 million tonnes of steel would be consumed in 2011 domestically, a year-on-year increase of 8 per cent, reported the Viet Nam Steel Association (VSA).

“The estimate is based on many factors including the country’s gross domestic production, total steel production, import and export volume,” said VSA chairman Pham Chi Cuong.

He noted that this figure did not include the country’s export volume.

It added that this year the country’s steel sector would likely sell 11 million tonnes of steel, and that the Vietnamese steel sector was exporting more steel to neighbouring countries including Cambodia and Laos.

Viet Nam on average exported 300,000 tonnes of steel each year. This year the association said the country would export 1 million tonnes, which would earn more than US$1 billion in revenue.

The VSA attributed the increase in exports to improved operations at Posco’s new steel plant, which opened in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province since October last year.

Posco is able to produce 1.2 million tonnes of steel per year, 40 per cent of the country’s total export volume.

In another development, the VSA announced that steel prices on the domestic market continued to increase. Steel was currently priced between VND13.3 million (US$660) and VND14.15 million ($725) per tonne, excluding value added tax. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam steel industry, Vietnam steel market