Last April, imports of hot rolled steel (HRC) into Vietnam continued to increase dramatically, of which hot rolled steel imported from China accounted for 71%.

According to data from the customs agency, in April 2024, hot rolled steel imports into Vietnam continued to increase sharply, reaching 890,000 tons, 1.5 times the amount of domestic production. Notably, hot rolled steel imported from China accounts for 71%. 

Accumulated in the first 4 months of this year, the total amount of imported hot rolled steel amounted to 3.93 million tons, up 32% over the same period in 2023 and equal to 159% of the volume of our country's entire HRC production industry.

Of which, the amount imported from China accounted for 73% with approximately 2.9 million tons, more than twice the same period last year.

It's the same type of hot rolled steel, but in recent times, China has always sold it much cheaper than other countries to export massively to Vietnam. 

Specifically, HRC import prices from China in the first 4 months of this year were always lower than the average price of other markets by 32-59 USD/ton. If compared specifically with HRC steel imported from Korea, hot rolled steel from China is up to 123 USD/ton lower.

Recently, the US announced an increase in tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to more than 100%, with the reason of preventing cheap goods from flooding the US. Accordingly, the tax rate on electric vehicles imported from China will increase to 102.5% this year, from 27.5%. A number of other Chinese products also had export tariffs increased to the US this time, including solar panels, steel, aluminum and medical equipment.

Thailand is also investigating and considering expanding new anti-dumping measures with Chinese hot-rolled steel due to the flood of cheap imported steel, causing the country's steel enterprises to only produce 30% of capacity. lower than the Southeast Asia average of 58%. 

According to Mr. Wirote Rotewanachai, Chairman of the Thai Iron and Steel Institute, letting the Thai steel industry shrink will be a problem for national security. They say it is necessary to protect local industry in the event of problems such as supply chain disruptions, especially now that there are many geopolitical conflicts.

At the end of April, the Government Office sent a document to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance to announce the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai requesting to handle the press issue regarding the import volume of rolled steel. Heat increased sharply, mainly from China and India.

The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade to preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and relevant agencies to review and understand the situation of increased hot-rolled steel imports in recent times to proactively implement appropriate and timely measures. promptly and effectively according to authority and legal regulations, protecting legitimate interests of the domestic manufacturing industry in accordance with international practices and a fair competitive environment.

Regarding the issue of increasing imports of HRC steel, recently, two domestic HRC steel manufacturing enterprises, Hoa Phat Group and Formosa Ha Tinh, have submitted an application to the Ministry of Industry and Trade requesting to initiate an anti-dumping investigation. with HRC steel imported from China and India. However, a collective of 12 Vietnamese galvanized steel and steel pipe enterprises disagreed with the reason that there is no basis to impose anti-dumping tax and supply is not enough to meet demand, so they still have to import HRC steel.

Source: Vietstock