MoIT to hold public consultation

Viet Nam Competition Authority (VCA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will hold a public consultation with related parties on investigations for anti-dumping tariffs on coated steel sheets.

The consultation, related to coated steel sheets imported from China (including Hong Kong) and South Korea, will be organised on December 22 to help related parties express their opinion on the anti-dumping tariffs.

Each party can have three people participating in the consultation. The event is not compulsory and related parties which do not join in the consultation will still be ensured their rights and benefits under the law.

Applications to participate in the consultation should be sent to the VCA’s Trade Remedies Investigation Division before 5pm on November 22. Related parties can send their contents before 5pm on December 1.

The ministry promulgated the decision on applying the temporary anti-dumping tariff on imported coated steel sheets from China (including Hong Kong) and South Korea into Việt Nam.

The tariff is in effect for 120 days — from September 16, 2016 to January 13, 2017.

Steel production surge

MoIT said in the first 10 months of the year domestic steel production continued to see high growth after Việt Nam imposed anti-dumping tariffs on long steel and steel billet. The solutions have assisted local steel producers while reducing imports.Raw steel productivity last month was more than 468,000 tonnes, posting a 26.5 per cent year-on-year increase. The productivity of rolled steel rose by 30 per cent from the same period last year, while that of steel bars was estimated at 397,000 tonnes.

Raw steel reached some 4.2 million tonnes in the 10-month period, or 19 per cent higher compared with the same period last year. Rolled steel and steel bars were 4.29 million tonnes and 3.9 million tonnes respectively.

The ministry’s Planning Department said higher building demand in the country has contributed to the increasing productivity. The surge of both steel sale and production over the past 10 months showed that the local steel sector could meet the building demand. Steel prices have been stable in the January-October period.

The latest report from the Việt Nam Steel Association also revealed that its members’ productivity reached more than 1.48 million tonnes, posting a year-on-year rise of 19 per cent. Steel sale also reached over 1.2 million tonnes, or 23 per cent higher than the corresponding period last year.

Nguyễn Văn Sưa, VSA’s vice chairman, said the year-end months would be the peak time for steel consumption, resulting in high demand for steel.

However, it would be difficult for local producers to prevent the flood of cheap steel from China in the context of integration.

The association said imported steel from China so far this year has reached over 7.29 million tonnes, accounting for 60 per cent of the total steel imports into Việt Nam.

Sưa said the government should come up with solutions to prevent trade fraud to help local steel producers have strong growth in the near future.

In addition, Vietnamese firms should improve products’ quality and invest in technologies to reduce production costs and enhance competitiveness in their own market.

The ministry will continue to apply trade defence measures to ensure fair competition with imported products to promote the country’s steel sector.

Source: VIR