According to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA), steel prices have reduced by VND100,000-200,000 a ton after a briefly sudden increase in mid-March.
It has swung around VND12 million (US$538) a ton in Ho Chi Minh City for the last few days.
Preliminary statistics by VSA show that steel consumption in March was estimated to reach 763,000 tons, the highest level ever in the steel industry’s history. It moved up 66 percent over February and 15 percent over the same period last year.
The record high increase was because the annual construction season has entered its peak time and steel stores have stepped up stockpiling after the Ministry of Industry and Trade decided to impose temporary safeguard duties.
Despite of the strongly hiked consumption volume, steel inventory still hit 325,000 tons at the end of March.
Besides, the market will receive one million tons of steel supply from a slew of new projects going to come into operation this year. This indicates that businesses have been capable of meeting the market’s demand so distributors and store owners should not concern about a scarcity and stock up steel.
