Vietnam-based steelmaker Hoa Phat Group has announced that in September this year it produced 193,000 mt of long steel, the same as in August. Some weakening of local demand prevented the mill from further output growth.
Local demand for longs in Vietnam did not grow very fast in September, and so Hoa Phat sold about 30,000 mt of billets locally, kept its share in the long steel products segment and increased its exports. Total construction steel demand was not strong due to the influence of macroeconomic factors and rainy weather, which affected both civil and project construction activities, according to Dinh Quang Hieu, manager of Hoa Phat Steel’s sales department.
Total shipments abroad went up to 26,600 mt in September against 18,000 mt in August. In the January-September period, the producer managed to export 191,600 mt of steel, up 32 percent year on year. Export sales amounted to 10 percent of total sales.
At the same time, production in the first nine months reached 2 million mt, up 16.1 percent compared to the January-September period of 2018. In 2019, Hoa Phat Group aims to produce 2.7 million mt of construction steel.