Vietnam steel sales to reach 450,000 tons in Jan

Domestic steel consumption is estimated to reach 450,000 tons in January, increasing 30,000 tons from December 2010

Domestic steel consumption is estimated to reach 450,000 tons in January, increasing 30,000 tons from December 2010, the online newspaper Danviet reported on February 17, citing the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA).

The above figure was much higher than the figure of 340,000 tons VSA predicted earlier.

Domestic steel consumption is estimated to reach 11.7 billion tons this year, increasing 8% from 2010, the online newspaper, Dinh Duy Tam, General Secretary of the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) forecast.

Vietnam Steel Corporation (VNSteel) will raise the wholesale prices of steel by VND400,000/ton to VND17.7 million/ton, the online newspaper Saigontimes reported on February 15, citing Do Duy Thai, General Director of VNSteel.

In the market, retail prices of steel topped VND18 million/ton, increasing VND500,000/ton compared with before Tet holidays.

The prices of imported steel billet rose to $700/ton and the recent devaluation of domestic currency will pressure upward on the prices of steel, Thai said.

The steel sector will have to face with many difficulties in 2011 including low-price steel imported from China and ASEAN countries, shortage of electricity. Especially, the domestic firms will have to deal with problem of higher domestic dollar prices as Vietnam’s central bank devalued the dong by 9.3% on February 11, dropping the official reference rate to 20,693 dong per dollar from 18,932, VSA said. – Stoxplus.com

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