Vietnam’s ferrous scrap imports rose by 54pc to 365,040mt in first half of August, compared to 237,803mt in the prior year period. In Jan -August 15 period, the imports saw an uptick of 12pc to 3.49mn mt from 3.12mn mt in the preceding year period, according to the country’s customs department.
Vietnamese mills resumed ferrous scrap imports actively as production was ramped-up after easing of COVID-19 related restrictions. International hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices remained on uptrend since mid-July. On the contrary, shortage of domestic scrap resulted in aggressive export activities by Japanese scrap suppliers to Vietnam in the absence of demand from South Korean mills.
The country’s iron and steel exports in the period surged by whopping 139pc to 454,296mt as against 190,414mt in the previous year period.