Illustrative image (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Steel productionand consumption recorded a slump in January compared to the last month of 2016.
Steel output in the month totalled over1.37 million and 823,000 tonnes of steel products were sold, dropping 12.7 and45.2 percent compared to the previous month.
According to Nguyen Van Sua, Vice Chairmanof the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA), the reduction is attributable to lowdemand on the occasion of the seven-day lunar New Year holiday (Tet) and a fairlylarge amount of stored goods by steel traders before Tet.
He predicted that steel consumption wouldbe higher in February.
Since 2016, a continuous increase has beenseen in the import volume of steel products, despite the fact that the domesticindustry is capable of meeting local demands.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade saidlocally made products are facing a fierce price competition from their Chineserivals.
The ministry affirmed its commitment toimplementing and monitoring temporary trade protection measures to ensurehealthy competition.
With 10.8 million tonnes of steel productsworth 4.45 billion USD shipped to Vietnam last year, China remained the biggeststeel exporter of the country, followed by Japan and the Republic of Korea.-VNA
VNA
