The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) noted that steel sales within the country’s construction industry are projecting improvement in the remainder of 2020, following large declines the industry has seen during the first eight months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic has caused interruptions in construction and real estate developments, slowing production of steel and bringing about high inventory levels of over 604,000mt. In fact, the VSA has noted this trend since the beginning of this year.
Vietnam’s construction steel output during the first eight months of 2020 was 6.6mn mt, down 6.9pc compared to the same period, a year prior. Sales of the same stood at 6.7mn mt, indicating a 5.8pc dip in the same comparitive period. Export sales fell by 6pc to 906,962mt. The country’s overall steel production was about 16mn mt in Jan-Aug 2020, 5pc lower than the prior year period. Total steel sales fell short by 6.9pc to 14.4mn mt, with exports accounting for 2.74mn mt, falling 13.8pc in this period.
Government aid has helped bolster steel output to 2.34mn mt in August, an 11.36pc increase compared to July. Sales stood at 2.07mn mt in August of which exports accounted for 462,138mt, climbing 8.81pc increase compared to July.