A worker examines products at a factory of the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel JSC (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Steel Association(VSA) predicts that consumption for steel in both domestic and foreign marketswill maintain stable growth until year’s end, after rises in production andsales over the last 10 months.
VSA Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Sua said withoutany big changes, steel consumption in large markets is likely to remain steadyuntil the end of 2018.
He noted some factors that may affect globalsteel consumption, including US tariffs on Turkey, winter production cuts inChina and US-China trade tension. Demand for the product in Europe is forecastto increase by 2.2 percent this year, driven by surging auto and constructiondemand.
In the domestic market, steel production andsales are enjoying fast growth and this trend will likely maintain throughDecember, he added.
VSA data showed that more than 20 million tonnesof steel products were manufactured between January and October, up 17.7percent year on year. More than 18 million tonnes of steel were sold with some3.9 million tonnes exported, respective increases of 27.7 percent and 31.6percent.
Construction steel is one of the productsenjoying the best growth recently, with more than 8.3 million tonnes producedin the 10 months, up 9.8 percent, and almost 8.3 million tonnes were sold, up13.8 percent.
Hoa Phat topped the construction steel marketshare with 23.45 percent, followed by the Vietnam Steel Corporation (17.5percent), Pomina (9.97 percent), Posco SS (9.35 percent), and Vinakyoei (8.38percent), according to the VSA.-VNA
VNA
