Hanoi Iron and Steel (HSV) - In the first 7 months of 2022, Vietnam's iron and steel imports reached more than 7.4 million tons with a value of more than 8 billion USD, an increase of 17.7% over the same period last year.
According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, iron and steel of all kinds imported to Vietnam in July continued to decrease by nearly 27% in volume and 25.4% in turnover compared to the previous month, reaching 909,000 tons, equivalent to 1.03 billion USD.
In the first 7 months of 2022, the country's iron and steel imports reached 7.4 million tons, equivalent to 8 billion USD with an average price of 1.08 billion USD/ton. Compared to the same period last year, imported iron and steel decreased by 7.9% in volume and increased by 17.7% in price.
Among them, Vietnam still buys the most iron and steel from the Chinese market with 3.41 million tons, equivalent to nearly 3.4 billion USD. But this number has decreased sharply by 14.7% compared to the same period last year. Markets supplying other types of iron and steel to Vietnam include Japan with 1.15 million tons, up 5.9%; Korea was 793 thousand tons, down 11.8% over the same period last year.
On the contrary, in July, Vietnam's iron and steel exports reached more than 613 thousand tons with a value of 645 million USD, down nearly 29% in volume and down 29.4% in value compared to the previous month. This is also the month that recorded the lowest export volume in the past 5 months.
In the seven months overall, iron and steel exports reached more than 5.4 million tons, equivalent to 5.6 billion USD, down 22.6% in volume and up 1% in value compared to the same period in 2021.
From the beginning of the year until now, Vietnam's iron and steel exports of all kinds have mainly been exported to the EU market with 1.1 million tons, an increase of 18.1%; Cambodia reached 741 thousand tons, down 2.2%; The United States reached 449 thousand tons, an increase of 12.9%; Malaysia: 437 thousand tons, up 3.2%. compared to the same period last year.
Thus, Vietnam had a trade deficit of 2.4 billion USD in iron and steel products in the first 7 months of the year with Vietnam's iron and steel export turnover reaching 5.6 billion USD and imports of about 8 billion USD.
In fact, most of the input raw materials for the domestic steel industry must be imported, so product prices will depend heavily on foreign market factors. This is still one of the big challenges of Vietnam's steel production industry in the coming time.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the biggest limitation of the current steel industry is that it can only meet construction needs, while steel in the fields of manufacturing, processing, mechanics, or supporting industries still cannot meet the demand.