According to local Vietnamese sources, the country will need to import 2.0-2.5 million mt of scrap in 2009 and 3.0-4.5 million mt of scrap in 2010 to satisfy domestic needs in this raw material.
Vietnam has 25 steel billet producing facilities, including 18 which are already operating and seven under construction. The combined annual capacity of these smelters is around 4.5 million mt.
However, the country's environment law, which regulates imports of scrap, may create difficulties for steelmakers' plans to import scrap because of its ambiguity.
According to the Vietnam Steel Association, the law on environment protection is not very clear. Import enterprises are also complaining that regulations requiring steel imports to be treated to remove dangerous impurities are too strict and impractical