Large steel makers are trying to grab market share from small and mediumplayers who are cutting down production due to the downturn in theindustry.
Pomina Steel Company, a majorconstruction-steel manufacturer with nearly 14 percent of the market,hopes to increase sales in both volume and value terms.
Itdid not specify how much it plans to sell this year, merely announcingthat it will increase sales by 20 percent to 14.4 trillion VND (685.7million USD).
It hopes to achieve this by setting up more sales outlets in the north.
Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) newspaper quoted a companyspokesperson as saying that though it only began selling in that regionlast year, it already has a 5 percent market share.
Other major steel firms with strong brands and advanced technologies are also planning to expand.
The Hoa Sen Group was busy trying to expand market share last yearthough the industry was struggling, managing to increase its share ofthe sheet-metal market by 3.5 percent to 37 percent.
It is the largest company in the segment.
Overall, it has increased its market share to 13.9 percent last quarter from 13.3 percent at the end of last year.
The Vietnam Steel Association reported that steel sales in the firstquarter were a million tonnes, or 12 percent lower than a year earlier.
Pham Chi Cuong, head of the association, said the industry's growthtarget of 4 percent this year could be hard to achieve if sales do notpick up soon.-VNA