Hot rolled steel coil imports continue to flood into Vietnam

The amount of hot-rolled coil (HRC) imported into Vietnam continues to increase sharply despite anti-dumping investigations.

In September, the amount of hot rolled coil (HRC) imported to Vietnam reached 1.2 million tons, an increase of 34% compared to August and equal to 220% of domestic production output (568,000 tons) - Photo: Contributor

According to customs data, in September, the amount of hot-rolled coil (HRC) imported into Vietnam reached 1.2 million tons, up 34% compared to August and equal to 220% of domestic production (568,000 tons).

Imported nearly 8.8 million tons of HRC hot rolled steel coil

In the first 9 months of 2024, Vietnam imported nearly 8.8 million tons of HRC, up 26% over the same period in 2023 and equal to 171% of domestic production.

Of which, the amount of HRC steel imported from China accounts for 72%, equivalent to 6.3 million tons, far exceeding the amount of products consumed by domestic manufacturing enterprises, which only reached 5.1 million tons.

The majority of steel imported from China is mainly due to the fact that the selling price from this market is 30-70 USD lower than other markets depending on the type of product. This stems from the fact that China still has a "steel surplus", domestic consumption is decreasing, forcing steel producers in this country to increase steel exports at low prices to release some of their inventory.

Notably, hot-rolled steel coils are still flooding into Vietnam despite the anti-dumping investigation.

Specifically, on July 26, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued a decision to investigate and apply anti-dumping measures to some hot-rolled steel coil products originating from China and India. The goods subject to investigation are some hot-rolled alloy or non-alloy steel products; not further processed than hot-rolled, thickness from 1.2mm to 25.4mm, width not exceeding 1,880mm; no plating or coating; oiled or unoiled; carbon content below 0.60% by mass.

According to the provisions of the Foreign Trade Law and Decree 10/2018/ND-CP, based on the preliminary investigation conclusion, the investigating agency may recommend that the Minister of Industry and Trade decide to apply temporary anti-dumping tax. The level of temporary anti-dumping tax shall not exceed the dumping margin in the preliminary investigation conclusion.

Currently, countries in the region such as Thailand and Indonesia have applied safeguard measures against Chinese hot-rolled steel. The production volume of Thailand and Indonesia only meets 43% and 65% of consumption demand, respectively. However, since 2019, these two countries have had anti-dumping duties in addition to the most-favored-nation (MFN) import duties that are maintained.

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