In January-July this year, Vietnam steel exports hiked by 14 percent to 3.89 million mt, according to the latest statistics data. The largest customer was Cambodia with 1.04 million mt sent to this country, 44 percent jump compared to 2018. Shipments to all major Southeast Asian countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines) moved up. Moreover, Vietnam managed to increase exports to Japan.
Due to higher trade restrictions and tighter competition producers from Vietnam were losing their share in the US and Europe and were focusing more on sales to Asia. Over the first seven months of this year, steel exports to the US has fallen by 42 percent, coming to 308,155 mt, while shipments to Belgium have dropped by 45 percent.
In July alone, Vietnam was forced to cut steel exports to 462,655 mt, down by 8.2 percent compared to June and 22.6 percent year on year. The decline was connected with sharp drop of shipments to the US, Belgium and the Philippines. In the given period, Vietnam's steel exports to the US and Europe decreased, however, overall demand for Vietnamese steel in ASEAN region was decent and only exports to Philippines moved down.