Steel consumption hit by pandemic

Production in the same period dropped 6.9 percent to 13.72 million tonnes, according to the Vietnam Steel Association.

This is the fourth month in a row that steel consumption and production have decreased. Industry insiders attribute this to declining demand in some steel-consuming sectors like construction and auto, motorbike and electronics manufacturing, all because of the pandemic.

The association has also warned exporters that the U.S. could impose antidumping and countervailing duties on their products after having done the same with China since September last year, lowering Chinese steel exports to that market by 41 percent over 2018 to $711 million last year.

Vietnam’s steel exports in the first seven months fell 2.7 percent year-on-year to $2.5 billion, according to the General Statistics Office.