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Ingot steel producers seeking higher import tax
Four ingot steel producers, Dinh Vu, Van Loi, Hoa Phat Steel Corporations and Hung Yen Mechanical Joint Stock Company, have sent a petition to the ministries of finance, and industry and trade, asking for the import tax on ingot steel to be raised from 5% to 17%.
The four ingot steel producers say that ingot steel output is expected to be abundant this year due to the decrease in domestic consumption. Meanwhile, production capacity has increased significantly.
The total capacity of ingot steel mills has reached 2.7mil tonnes a year.
It is expected that in 2009, several more ingot steel mills will become operational, raising the total ingot steel capacity to 5.5mil tonnes. The supply is believed will be high enough to meet domestic and export demand.
Currently a lot of countries and territories are offering to sell ingot steel to Vietnam, including Russia, Taipei-China, and Turkey, which has made ingot steel producers suffer. A lot of mills have had to stop production.
However, the Vietnam Steel Association still thinks that it is necessary to consult with relevant parties on the issue before submitting the final proposal to the ministries. The proposal needs to be designed in a way to ensure the benefits of both steel and ingot steel producers.
According to Pham Chi Cuong, chairman of the association, the ingot steel offered by Russia and the Ukraine is now $290/tonne. As such, the price is some $320/tonne if counting other expenses, which is $100/tonne lower than the price at the end of February.
Cuong said that with such an import price, domestic ingot steel producers cannot compete with imports. Scrap steel, the main material for making ingot steel, is now $250/tonne.
VietNamNet, TT
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