Construction steel prices have gone up to between 12 million VND – 12.8 million VND a tonne, about 600,000 VND higher than three months ago under the pressure of higher prices of many production inputs including electricity, fuel and coal.

The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) on March 22 suggested the Government restrain import of rolled and other kinds of rolling steel that domestic factories can produce with high quality.

Vietnam imported nearly 6 million tonnes of steel last year. At present, the country has a surplus of 700,000 tonnes of cold-rolled steel and nearly 500,000 tonnes of hot rolled steel, according to the association.

“If the Government limits the import of these two kinds of steel, we can reduce the trade deficit by nearly 700 million USD and ensure the 12 percent growth targeted by the steel industry this year”, an unnamed association official said./.