Due to the strong export performance of Vietnam’s
hot rolled steel coil products and the increase in domestic production, it is expected to affect the global hot rolled steel coil trade pattern in 2019.Although steel exports are affected by the US 232 tariffs, unlike other Asian countries, the volume of exports to the United States has increased significantly in 2018.
According to the US Census Bureau, Vietnam exported 1.11 million tons of steel to the United States in 2018, a 48% increase from 2017. Last year, US steel imports totaled 25.69 million tons, of which imports from Vietnam accounted for about 4.3%. One of the reasons for the increase in Vietnam’s steel exports is the increase in production at Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp. On May 18, 2015, the company’s second blast furnace was put into operation, doubling its crude steel capacity to 7 million tons. Formosa Plastics holds a 70% stake in Formosa Plastics, and Sinosteel and JFE Steel hold 20% and 5% respectively. Although US steel imports fell by 13.1% year-on-year to 25.69 million tons in 2018, imports from Vietnam accounted for a significant increase from 2.5% (about 749,000 tons) in 2017.
In 2018, Vietnam’s steel exports amounted to 6.26 million tons, an increase of 33% from the figure of 4.71 million tons in 2017. In the same period, the country’s steel imports were 13.5 million tons, down about 10% from 15 million tons in 2017. According to data from the Vietnam Iron and Steel Association, Vietnam’s steel imports and exports have a reverse year-on-year trend, mainly due to a 14.9% year-on-year increase in Vietnam’s steel output to 24.19 million tons.
Data show that Vietnam’s hot rolled steel coil production increased the most, last year, to 3.44 million tons, nearly 1.5 times more than the 1.38 million tons in 2017.
According to market sources, in the first quarter of 2019, Vietnam’s largest steelmaker, Hoa Phat Group is expected to maintain steel production. The company plans to complete the construction of the Dung Quat steel plant by the end of this year and gradually put all four blast furnaces in the plant into production. The mill’s design capacity for crude steel is 4 million tons per year, half of which will be used to produce hot rolled coils.
On March 7, a report from the Vietnam Steel Industry released by Citi Research showed that when judging global steel production trends, it is necessary to pay attention to the growth of countries that are not traditional producers but may change the balance of global steel trade.