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Steel prices about to rise
The steel market in April proved to be quite different from March: Prices increased several times for a total of VND200-400,000/tonne.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ø6 rolled steel delivered at steel mills saw the price increase from VND9.69mil/tonne to VND10.04mil/tonne in April, while round steel rose from VND10.36mil/tonen to VND10.61mil/tonne (price not including VAT).
In April, the Vietnam Steel Corporation three times raised steel sale prices, making rolled steel VND400,000/tonne more expensive, and two times raised the price of steel bars, making the product VND200,000/tonne more expensive.
Explaining the price increases, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the ingot steel prices in the world increased by $60/tonne, moving from $360/tonne to $420/tonne. Moreover, the steel import tax increase has had impacts, reducing the pressure on domestic steel producers.
The steel price increases have also been attributed to the return of the demand for steel. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the total volume of steel consumed in April reached 350,000 tonnes.
The higher demand has helped reduce the inventory volume from 220,000 tonnes in March to 150,000 tonnes now, while the ingot steel in stock has also decreased from 320,000 tonnes to 280,000 tonnes.
Meanwhile, in the first three months of the year, steel prices decreased by VND800-900,000/tonne in total.
However, the Vietnam Steel Association has given another explanation about the price increases. Pham Chi Cuong, Chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association, said the price increases mostly have been applied by member companies of the Vietnam Steel Corporation, including the Thai Nguyen Cast Iron and Steel Corporation, Bien Hoa, Nha Be and Thu Duc Steel Companies.
Cuong said that previously, the companies tried to keep prices unchanged, selling products at prices VND200,000/tonne lower than those offered by other companies because of slow sales and competition with imported products. Now, as the market has recovered and input material prices have increased, the above said companies have raised sale prices to offset losses.
There is no big gap between steel prices in the north and south. Prices in the north are between VND10.2mil and VND10.5mil/tonne, while prices in the south are VND10-10.7mil/tonne.
Pham Huyen
vietnamnet
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