Steel producers in Vietnam report increased domestic sales during H1 2014

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The cold-rolled steelmakers in Vietnam reported increased domestic sales during the first half of the year, says data. This helped the producers to offset the slump in overseas exports of their products owing to recent anti-dumping accusations.

The latest statistics released by the Vietnamese Ministry indicates that the total steel consumption increased during the initial six months of 2014 when compared with the previous year. The consumption of rolled steel rose 25.4% to reach 1.72 million tonnes. The total domestic consumption of steel sheets and bars were up by 7.4% year-on-year to touch 1.74 million tonnes. However, raw steel consumption declined marginally by 2.9% to 1.4 million tonnes during the six-month period.

According to Vietnam Steel Association (VSA), the domestic sales of welded steel pipes rose considerably during the first six months of the year. At the same time, the exports declined 19% during the same period.

The domestic market sales of Nam Kim Steel (NKG) surged 127% year-on-year during Jan-Jun ’14, while those of Hoa Sen Group climbed higher by 117%.

Also, the market share of Vietnam Steel Corporation (VnSteel) and its joint-venture enterprises tumbled during the first half of the year. On the other hand, the market share of other firms aside from VnSteel saw big jump during the six-month period.