Construction industry expects bright outlook in second half of 2022

Lower steel prices and public investment disbursement are expected to provide growth momentum for the construction industry over the second half of 2022.

After hovering around VND18,000 - 19,000 a kilo (US$0.77 - 0.81 per kilo), the price of construction steel has cooled down to the same levels as last year.

On July 9, steel producers, including Hoa Phat Group, Vietnam – Italy Steel and Vietnam Germany Steel Pipe, reduced steel prices for the eighth time in a row in two months.

Accordingly, the price of coils and rebars declined to VND16,000 - 16,500 per kilo, about 8-9 per cent lower than that in early May and down 13-15 per cent compared to the beginning of March.

Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) said that the recent downtrend was thanks to the continuous decrease in raw material prices since the end of March, causing the market to slow down. Distributors seek to reduce inventories, so the factories’ outputs are much lower than usual.

SSI Securities Corporation said that after advancing 15 per cent in the first quarter due to pent-up demand, domestic steel consumption volume, including construction steel, galvanised sheet and steel pipe, dropped by about 32 per cent on-year in April and May.

Weaker demand due to persistent high steel prices and rising costs of other construction materials stalled operations, while concerns over record steel prices caused distributors to pause stockpiling and tightened management policies on capital inflows into the real estate sector.