The Vietnamese steel industry is expected to face difficulties this year due to an increase in production capacity, falling demand and protectionist measures by countries to reduce imports, according to experts.
It may take Vietnam two years to get upgraded to emerging market level from the current frontier market classification, VNDirect Securities Corporation said in its 2020 outlook.
Hoa Phat Group, the largest steel maker in the country, said it provided more than 2.77 million tonnes of high-quality construction steel to the market in 2019, a year-on-year surge of 16.8 percent.
International free trade agreements such as the CPTPP and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement have opened up unprecedented opportunities for Vietnamese steelmakers with the industry forecast to see robust growth.
The US’ imposition of duties of up to 456 percent on certain steel products shipped from Vietnam would not significantly harm the country’s steel industry, according to industry insiders.
The Hoa Phat Group said its subsidiary - Hoa Phat Steel Pipe Co., Ltd - exported 17,000 tonnes of steel pipe in the first 11 months of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 22.3 percent.
Vietnam must have specific products of high quality to make its national brand reach international level, heard a conference hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Hanoi on November 28.
Digitisation of farming is inevitable and Vietnam should embrace it to resolve the agricultural paradox of producing more while preserving natural resources and to grab the opportunities brought by free trade agreements, experts have said.
The top 60 biggest companies by market capitalisation and trading liquidity on the two local stock exchanges saw combined post-tax profit gain of 22.5 percent to 46.75 trillion VND (2 billion USD) in the third quarter of 2019.
Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index last week ended at its 13-month high but its struggle on the last two days signalled growth had stalled and it would move sideways in the coming week.
Among the 10 most profitable firms in the banking – financial – securities sector in 2019, banks continue to be the focus of attention while the “trillions-of-VND” club has seen changes.
Vietnam’s leading steel maker – Hoa Phat Group – and Kyoei Steel Group of Japan shared the wish for long-term cooperation in steel billet and scrap steel supply.
Hoa Phat Group, a leading steel maker in Vietnam, shipped 191,600 tonnes of steel products aboard in the first nine months of 2019, rising 32 percent year on year and accounting for nearly 10 percent of its total sales.
The Ministry of Finance has postponed its plan of increasing the most-favoured nation (MFN) tariff on imported hot rolled steel coil (HRC) from zero percent to 5 percent after collecting opinions from businesses and experts.
Leading steelmaker Hoa Phat shipped abroad 165,000 tonnes of construction steel in the first eight months of this year, up 38 percent year-on-year, according to the group.
The US-listed asset management fund VanEck Vectors Vietnam ETF (VNM ETF) may purchase shares of the new generation carrier Vietjet in its upcoming quarterly portfolio reshape.
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