Vietnam's metallurgical industry is forecast to grow 6-8% in 2020

Steel production in Vietnam will rise slightly, by about 6-8 percent this year, the VSA said.

The association said there were signs of a slowdown in the global steel market last year and consumption was not expected to improve in the first quarter of this year.

Crude steel is estimated at nearly 18 million tonnes, and hot rolled steel production is estimated at 17.1 million tonnes.

The country is expected to import some raw materials this year, such as iron ore (about 17 million tons), scrap metal (about five million tons) and hot rolled steel coil (five million tons).

Globally, capacity growth could exceed demand growth, leading to a decline in exports and profits.

According to the association, many of the proposed integrated steel projects in ASEAN will result in a serious oversupply, and it will take about 20 years for ASEAN steel consumption to catch up with this potential.

The domestic steel industry continued to face challenges due to competitive pressures from increased domestic steel supplies and imports, as well as tightening lending to the domestic real estate market and delays in construction work.

Production and sales of crude steel in December last year reached almost 1.3 million tonnes, an increase of 3.2 percent compared to November and 1.1 percent compared to the same period in December 2018.

Crude steel consumption exceeded 1.4 million tons, up 9.4 percent over the previous month and 13.4 percent more than in the same period in 2018.

Finished steel production reached almost 2.3 million tonnes, an increase of 11.9 percent over the same period in 2018.

Sales of finished steel products reached over 2 million tonnes, up 10.8 percent over the same period in 2018.

In particular, steel exports reached almost 360,000 tonnes, down nine percent from the same period in 2018.

The VSA report said that by the end of December last year, prices for steel-making materials such as iron ore had risen by $ 3-5 per tonne; Scrap metal prices increased by $ 15-20 per tonne compared to early November.

Domestic steel sales prices currently average 11,500 won - 11,800 (US $ 0.5) per kilogram, depending on the type of product and business.