Sales of steel, cement recover

The country’s consumption of construction steel and cement has recovered substantially in April and May, industry sources said.

The monthly consumption of steel in the past two months rose to an average 440,000 tons compared to only 327,000 tons in March, said Nguyen Tien Nghi, vice chairman of Vietnam Steel Association.

Nghi told the Daily on Wednesday that the steel consumption in the next two months would remain high thanks to the faster pace of construction projects. Furthermore, Nghi said, prices of the imported input materials such as iron ore, coal and scrap steel would likely be stable, thus contributing to better steel sales

At the moment, the factory price of construction steel is fluctuating between VND15.5 million and VND16.1 million per ton in the northern region and from VND15.8 million to VND16.5 million in southern provinces, VAT excluded.

The steel association predicted the country will consume nearly seven million tons this year, or an increase of 10% over last year.

Meanwhile, the consumption of cement in the first five months of the year was increasing at a year-on-year pace of 8% with total consumption amount of 20 million tons, said Nguyen Van Thien, chairman of Vietnam Cement Association.

“The association expects the total cement consumption at some 52 million this year, or an increase of 7% over last year,” he told the Daily on Wednesday. – SGT

Tags: Vietnam steel industry, Vietnam steel market, Vietnam steel prices