Vietnam suspects Korean steel giant Posco of smuggling car parts

In a media release Tuesday, Vietnam Customs said it is investigating the case involving Posco SS Vina Co., a subsidiary of South Korea's Posco Group, which has offices and a factory in Ba Ria Vung Tau Province on the southern coast.

In September, the company had received two import consignments of 15 containers, and declared the content as scrap iron and steel. 

The shipments had been bought from Singaporean company Stamcorp International and shipped from Melbourne, Australia.

On inspecting the containers, customs authorities discovered three of them containing unused goods, which they said were car components. 

Another container had packages containing a certain kind of screw, unopened and with their labels intact.

Seok-won Yoon, operations director of Posco SS Vina, told VnExpress Wednesday that allegations his company had smuggled in auto parts were not true. 

He said according to information provided by the suppliers in Australia, the auto parts did not meet the manufacturer’s quality standards, were considered defective and sold as scrap.

Yoon said the entire consignment would be used as scrap in the company’s electric arc furnace.

Posco SS Vina has already submitted this information to customs in writing. 

"We will get additional evidence from the manufacturer: for instance, the reasons these components were discarded, and samples of parts that actually meet standards," Yoon said. 

“We have faith in the investigation by the competent authorities and patiently await their decision.”