Vietnam purchased 3.5 million tonnes of steel from China from January-May, accounting for 8.9 percent of the market share and ranking third among the nation’s importers, according to the Latin American Steel Association (Alacero).

Alacero’s latest data shows that in the period, the Republic of Korea imported the biggest volume of Chinese steel with 5.2 million tonnes or 13.3 percent of the market share.

It was followed by Latin America with 3.8 million tonnes, up 12 percent from the same period last year.

According to Alacero, China exported 39.5 million tonnes of steel to the world in the first five months of this year, an annual rise of 30 percent.-VNA