October steel sales lowest in 2 years

By Tat Dat   December 8, 2022 | 11:17 pm PT
October steel sales lowest in 2 years
A man climbs on steel packages at Hoa Phat steel mill in Hai Duong Province, Vietnam. Photo by Reuters
Steel sales fell to their lowest level in the last two years in October, mainly due to the slowdown in the real estate market and public spending.

At 1.9 million tons, they were down 29% year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Steel Association.

Output too declined by 29% to two million tons.

Major steel makers like Hoa Phat, Nam Kim and Hoa Sen reported plummeting sales in the third quarter, by 49% year-on-year in the case of Nam Kim.

According to the association, the situation will remain difficult until the second quarter of next year.

The biggest steel consumption is in real estate and public works.

Many housing and other property projects have stalled due to difficulties related to funding and laws.

Spending on public works in the first 11 months was only 58.3% of the target, according to Ministry of Finance figures.

The disbursement rate last year was 63.9%.

On the global market too, steel demand has plunged, leaving Vietnamese companies with few export orders.

According to Vietcombank Securities Company, Hoa Phat, Hoa Sen, Pomina, and some other steel producers have had to suspend operations at some of their plants to avoid inventory pileups.

Many securities firms said steel makers’ business outlook would be gloomy until early 2023.

 
 
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