According to VSA’s report on the local steel market in the first quarter of the year, GDP growth exceeded 5%, thereby showing that the national economy is on the way to recovery, with efforts being made by the entire political system to promote economic development proving to be effective.

Furthermore, steel production and trading activities throughout the reviewed period recorded positive signals, of which finished steel production reached 8,456 million tonnes, up 3.2% over the same period from last year. Elsewhere, finished steel sales were at 8.137 million tonnes, representing a year-on-year increase of 11.9%.

Increased steel consumption, coupled with new projects on public investment in civil construction and infrastructure facilities also boosted steel imports. March alone saw imports of finished steel into the nation reach 1.1 million tonnes with a value of US$1.14 billion, up 23% in volume and 22.36% in value over the same period from last year.

In terms of exports, March witnessed steel exports enjoy a strong recovery, reaching 956,000 tonnes, up 75.41% over the previous month, despite being a decline of 22.8% on-year.

In total, the opening three months of the year saw the nation export roughly 2,275 million tonnes of steel, worth US$2.3 billion, a drop of 22.15% in volume and up 12.5% in value over the same period from last year.

The country’s leading export markets in the first quarter of the year primarily focused on ASEAN, making up 40.57%, the EU with 19.32%, the United States at 8.34%, the Republic of Korea at 6.97%, and Hong Kong (China) at 3.91%.

Source:  VOV