The country produced an estimated 346,500 tons of steel billet, up 6.9 percent year on year; about 383,100 tons of rolled steel, 22.2 percent higher year on year; and some 406,100 tons of steel bar, jumping 27.6 percent from the same month in 2015.
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The estimated production for the first quarter of 2016 stood at 1.04 million metric tons for crude steel, up 13.7 percent year on year; 1.11 million tons for rolled steel, surging 23.7 percent year on year; and 1.09 million tons for steel bar, up 32.2 percent from the same period last year, the data showed.
The Vietnam Steel Association sent a letter to domestic steel producers on March 16 with their recommendation that steel billet and steel bars should be the focus of production in order to satisfy rising demand.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade imposed provisional safeguard duties of 23.3 percent on imports of billets and 14.2 percent on long rolled products, effective from March 22 to October 7. The decision has led to a recent hike in prices.