[Ferro-Alloys.com]

 

Vietnam's scrap imports in September remained largely unchanged from August because of prolonged slow domestic steel consumption and a muted export market.

 

Vietnam imported 329,000t scrap in September, flat on the month from August, but down by 19pc from September last year. Total imports in January-September were at 3.4mn t, marking a 31pc decline on the year.

 

Japan and the US remained Vietnam's top two suppliers and accounted for 58pc of total imports in September.

 

Vietnam received 38,122t of ferrous scrap from the Netherlands in September, with volumes booked in June when suppliers shifted focus from Turkey to Asia for higher profit margins. It was the first deepsea bulk cargo from Europe this year.

 

All major supplying regions saw a sharp fall in exports to Vietnam over January-September. Vietnam entered its monsoon season in May, while the summer months of July-September is typically a lull season.

 

Domestic steel demand was further hampered by slow construction progress. This was a result of tight credit in the real estate industry and the Vietnamese government conducting more anti-corruption investigations on some property developers. The export market, which contributed the most to the robust Vietnam steel market last year, faced headwinds from sluggish steel prices in southeast Asia and China.

 

Finished steel sales of Vietnamese mills were at around 2mn t in September, down by 7.19pc compared with the previous month and by 9.9pc on the year. Steel export volume plummeted by 30.27pc in the first eight months from 2021, according to the Vietnam Steel Association.

 

Many Vietnamese mills started another round of production cuts to reduce losses, market participants told Argus. Scrap imports in the remaining months are unlikely to see significant improvement, trade sources said. argusmedia.com