The value rose by up to 30% against the same period last year.
Last year, the figure was also high at US$8 billion, up 7.3% against the previous year. The imports were mainly from China (accounting for 55.1%), the Republic of Korea (12.8%) and Taiwan (8.9%).
As a large steel import volume from China has caused major damage to domestic steel production, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has decided to apply trade defence measures to ensure fair competition with local products and promote the country’s steel sector.
For this purpose, certain kinds of steel ingots and long steel imported into Vietnam from various countries and territories have been subject to temporary safeguard duties of 23.3% and 14.2% respectively.
The steel industry is likely to enjoy 10%-12% growth next year, said the Vietnam Steel Association.
