Steel exports surge 78.1 percent in nine months

Steel production at JFE Shoji Steel Hai Phong Co., Ltd in Hai Phong's Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP). (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam exported more than 5.7 million tonnes of steel products in the first nine months of 2021, a whopping 78.1 percent increase the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA).

The country produced over 24.8 million tonnes of steel during the period, nearly 22 million tonnes of which were sold, up 34.1 percent and 32.5 percent, respectively, year on year.

In the third quarter alone, steel output reached nearly 7.16 million tonnes, up 4 percent year on year, while steel sales slid 7 percent to over 6.2 million tonnes, as a result of social distancing measures imposed to stamp out the spread of COVID-19 in many major industrial cities and provinces.

The VSA reported that though Vietnam’s nine-month steel imports edged up just 1 percent in volume, to 14.9 million tonnes, the value surged 44 percent to 11 billion USD.

The association forecast the steel exports will regain growth momentum during the remaining months of the year following the removal of COVID-19 restrictions.

The steel industry also expects the new-generation Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), in which Vietnam is signatory to, and the recovery of production and construction will further fuel the growth./.