Vietnamese steel production up 15% in 2018

Vietnam's steel production was 24.19 million tonnes in 2018, an increase of 14.9% year-on-year, according to data from the Vietnam Steel Association.

The association said the annual figure was obtained after including 2.02 million tonnes in December, which itself is 1.6% higher than the previous year.

The higher production could be attributed to Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp., which launched a second blast furnace on May 18, 2018, doubling its crude steel production capacity to 7 million tonnes per year.

Annual sales amounted to 21.74 million tonnes, and exports reached 4.75 million tonnes, up 20.9% and 26.6% respectively, after summing up sales of 1.81 million tonnes and exports of 411,741 million tonnes in December 2018, decreased by 3% and increased by 1% from the same period in 2017, respectively.

Against the backdrop of stronger performance, Vietnamese steel production is expected to continue its upward trend in 2019 due to the large number of new capacities to be commissioned later this year.

For example, Hoa Phat Group plans to launch its new Hoa Phat Dung Quat steel complex in 2019. The complex will have four blast furnaces with a total production capacity of 5 million tons per year.

“But with growing trade barriers around the world, if Vietnamese steelmakers are unable to find a way out, the growing capacity could put a lot of pressure on the domestic steel market,” a source in Vietnam said. - Clement Chu.