According to the Vietnamese customs authorities, Vietnam's iron and steel imports in the January-April period of the current year totaled 2.46 million mt, up two percent year on year, with a value of $1.98 billion.
The country's biggest source of steel imports in January-April was China with 635,000 mt, up 19.1 percent year on year, while the second biggest source was South Korea with 542,000 mt, up 7.8 percent year on year, followed by Taiwan with 269,000 mt, up 13.8 percent compared to the same period last year. In the first four months of the year, Vietnam's steel billet imports amounted to 137,600 mt.
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) commented that, as the domestic construction sector has not recovered yet, total iron and steel sales in the domestic market in April came to only 443,600 mt, down around 15 percent from the previous month, while total iron and steel inventory in Vietnam at the end of April was over 255,000 mt.