In May 2020, Vietnam’s leading steelmaker Hoa Phat group sold 258,500mt of construction steel, an increase of 14.3pc over the prior-year period. Sales in the Southern region rose three folds to 80,650mt.
During the first five months of 2020, Hoa Phat steel supplied total 1.26mn mt of construction steel, up marginally from the same period in the prior year. In the period, steel sales in the southern region more than doubled to 292,000mt.
In May, exports of finished steel were 160,000mt, an increase of over 50pc from May 2019. Major markets finished steel markets included Japan, Australia, Canada, Thailand and Malaysia.
Exports of billets too surged in the month and were at 596,000mt. Around 54pc or 316,000mt were sold to China. Other major markets of billets included Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
Hoa Phat’s Steel pipe reported a 78pc rise in steel pipes sales from the prior year. The company is focusing on introducing new products and diversification of steel pipes to cater to the demand. Hoa Phat steel has maintained its revenue by resorting to exports amid COVID-19 outbreak.
The company’s Hoa Phat Dung Quat iron and steel complex has a capacity of 2mn mt of construction steel per annum and improving its operations successively to boost more exports.
According to the Vietnam Steel Association, in Jan-April, steel pipe exports by member companies reached 16,753mt, down by 9.1pc from the same period in 2019.