Vietnam’s scrap steel imports surged over 24% during first half of 2016

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The most recently released trade data indicates that scrap steel imports by Vietnam during the month of June this year increased slightly over the previous month. The scrap imports by the country has recorded month-on-month rise for fifth month in a row. The cumulative imports during the initial six-month period of the year have jumped higher by over 24% when matched with the corresponding half-yearly period last year.

Vietnam imported 379,189 tons of scrap steel during June this year. The scrap imports by the country have increased marginally by 2.7% when compared with the imports during the month before. The scrap imports by the country were valued at $93.66 million during the month. The value of imports was up by 10.8% when matched with the previous month.

The cumulative scrap imports by the country during the first six months of the current year totaled 1.790 million tons, significantly higher by 24.3% when matched with the year before. The Vietnamese scrap steel imports had totaled 1.44 million tons during the six-month period from January to June in 2015.

The country’s steel scrap imports are expected to total around 3.58 million tons during the entire year 2016, going by the current import trend. The cumulative scrap imports by the country during the entire calendar year 2015 had totaled 3.186 million tons.

Vietnam had imported 369,000 tons of scrap steel during May ‘16. The scrap imports by the country have increased marginally by 0.4% when compared with the imports during the month before. The average import price of scrap steel during the month had stood at US$229.10 per ton. The average scrap import value had increased by over 17.8% to $84.57 million ton during the month.

The country’s scrap steel imports had totaled 368,000 tons in April this year. The imports had registered month-on-month rise of nearly 9.1%. The value of imports during the month amounted to US$73.065 million. The average import price had increased by $14.60 per ton to touch $198.70 per ton.

The scrap imports by the country had registered considerable jump of 77.8% in March this year when compared with the imports during the month before. The imports totaled 337,000 tons during the month. The average import price of scrap steel during March ‘16 stood at US$184.10 per ton, increasing marginally by over 3% when matched with the previous month. The country’s scrap import values jumped higher by 83.7% over the previous month to $62.03 million during March this year.

Vietnam imported 190,000 tons of scrap steel during Feb ‘16. The scrap imports by the country increased considerably by over 10% when compared with the imports during the month before. The value of scrap imports totaled $33,776 million during February this year, higher by 10.2% month-on-month.

The country recorded month-on-month decline in scrap steel imports only in January this year. The monthly imports dropped sharply by 35% over the previous month to total 172,000 tons. Although the average import price increased marginally by 2% during the month, the scrap import values by Vietnam dropped sharply by over 45% to $30.65 million in January.

Meantime, the country reported significant jump in steel imports during the first half of 2016. The imports surged higher by 25% year-on-year to 9.6 million tons. The steel imports amounted to $3.42 billion during the period. Although domestic steel production has ramped up during the past several months, the country continues to be one of the world’s top importers of steel.