Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Steel enterprises have boosted exports while facingdifficulties in domestic consumption due to the COVID-19 outbreak, according tothe Vietnam Steel Association (VSA).

The association said steel production in July reached nearly 2.4 milliontonnes, down 6.48 percent compared to the previous month, while steelconsumption was about 2.1 million tonnes, the same volume in June and up 7.4 percentyear on year.

Of which, steel exports reached 658,207 tonnes, an increase of 5.96 percentmonth on month, and 55 percent year on year.

Trang Thu Ha, chief of VSA Administrative Office, said the domestic steelindustry has faced difficulties in production and sales due to the impact ofthe COVID-19 pandemic and the weather.

Construction work was temporarily postponed in the first seven months of theyear, leading to difficulties in the domestic steel market, especially in thesouthern region.

Construction steel sales in the first seven months increased by 6.4 percentyear on year, of which, exports rose by 25.4 percent.

Meanwhile, hot rolled coil production reached more than 590,000 tonnes in July,down by 1.21 percent month on month but increased by 85.4 percent year on year.Consumption of this product reduced by 6.8 percent to 559,487 tonnes but thisfigure surged by 82.7 percent over the same period in 2020.

Consumption of colour-coated metal sheets in July reached 428,084 tonnes, down6.58 percent month on month, though up 18.8 percent year on year. This figureincluded 300,404 tonnes for export, up 84.2 percent over the same period in2020.

The Hoa Sen and Nam Kim groups were leading in steel consumption in the firstseven months. Hoa Sen sold nearly 1.1 million tonnes, holding 36.7 percent ofthe domestic market share. Nam Kim sold more than 498,000 tonnes, rankingsecond with 16.8 percent of market share.

The Hoa Phat Group's galvanised sheet and steel pipe products also recorded astrong increase because of the recovery in demand of those products in the USand Europe.

Due to the difficulties in the steel product consumption in the domesticmarket, steel enterprises have promoted steel exports to maintain production.

Ha said that in 2020, the domestic steel production industry maintainedoperations due to good control of the pandemic.

However, with the complicated development of the outbreaks this year, manyprovinces and cities have been implementing social distancing measures and evenhad to stop temporarily many activities, weakening the domestic market demandin June and July.

“Therefore, the association forecasts that steel consumption in the thirdquarter will not be better. The business result in the fourth quarter will alsodepend on the pandemic prevention and control," Ha told the Vietnam NewsAgency.

With the complicated development of the pandemic in the southern provinces andcities, the association expects that steel production and consumption byyear-end would continue to see difficulties, she said.

However, "domestic consumption and steel exports could recover further bythe end of this year if the pandemic is controlled well at home andabroad," she said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has requested the association andenterprises producing and exporting iron ore, iron and steel to review inputmaterials for reducing production costs and selling price in the process ofstabilising steel production and the domestic steel market at present./.