Positive 10-month growth in production and consumption
According to the latest statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, output of crude steel and steel products both increased in October, contributing to the increase in total output in the first quarters of the year.
Specifically, in October, crude steel output was estimated at 3,371.5 thousand tons, up 11% over the same period; rolled steel was estimated at 800.1 thousand tons, up 23.6% over the same period; steel bar and angle steel was estimated at 922.6 thousand tons, down 0.1% over the same period. Generally in the first 10 months of 2020, the output of crude steel production; rolled steel; steel bar, steel angle increase respectively 0.1; 5.3% and 7.6% over the same period last year.
Previously, although the Vietnam Steel Association's 9-month statistics showed that the production and consumption of steel products in the domestic market decreased slightly compared to the same period in 2019, but at the steel market assessment workshop. In the first 9 months of the year, VSA's representative gave a quite positive comment on the recovery signal for the steel industry in the last months of the year.
According to VSA Vice President Pham Khoi Nguyen, in the first half of the year, the steel manufacturing industry was also strongly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, making production and consumption difficult, many domestic enterprises did not achieve the increase. growth as planned goals.
However, from now to the end of the year, speeding up the completion of construction works and especially promoting the active implementation of public investment projects under the Government's drastic direction will be weaknesses. Favorable factors positively impact the recovery and growth of the building materials industry, including the steel industry.
Bright signals from steel exports
Notably in the first 5 months of this year, China unexpectedly imported a large amount of steel billet from Vietnam with a sudden increase of more than 763% in volume, more than 585% in value over the same period in the country, achieving output. 570,000 tons with a turnover value of 233 million USD. In particular, the increase in the volume of goods exported to China was up to 540,000 tons, the turnover increased over 199 million USD.
Among the strongly increasing exporters, contributing to the sudden growth of the Chinese market, Hoa Phat has exported more than 1 million tons of billet to this market since the beginning of the year until now. In addition, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Joint Stock Company also exported more than 1 million tons of steel products in the first 9 months of the year.
According to the Vietnam Steel Association, these are positive signals favorable for the recovery of Vietnam's steel manufacturing industry, and also contribute to releasing excess capacity for production of enterprises. .
“Previously, Vietnam mainly imported billets from China to serve domestic steel rolling mills, but now, due to the excess capacity, businesses will increase exports to the outside. The export to the Chinese market is expected to continue to be favorable due to the tightening policy of China to close low-tech steel producers in this country ”, said the VSA representative.
Besides the Chinese market, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, facing opportunities from international economic integration, especially the implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), The Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the steel industry is one of the industries that is expected to have more conditions to attract investment, boost production and export to new markets. These will also be positive factors helping to raise growth expectations of the steel industry in the coming time.
According to stock news