About 1.70 million mt of steel was shipped to Vietnam in FY 2021-22, JPC's data showed, as the Southeast Asian country reduced its dependence on imports of hot-rolled coil.
JPC's data showed 1.66 million mt of HRC was exported to Vietnam, down 21.3% from 2.11 million mt delivered the year before.
The lower HRC exports were due to Vietnamese steelmaker Hoa Phat achieving its first full year of operation in 2021 for its new 3.5 million mt/year HRC mill at its Dung Quat steel complex.
The HRC mill began operations in May 2020 and produced 2.6 million mt of HRC in 2021, more than triple from nearly 700,000 mt manufactured in 2020.
Most of Hoa Phat's HRC produced in 2021 was slated for local demand while only 30,000 mt was exported. The HRC exports are expected to fall in future as Hoa Phat plans to build a new hot-strip steel mill that will add 5.5 million mt/year of capacity as early as 2024.
Despite the 22.9% drop in finished steel exports to Vietnam, India's overall exports for the year shot up 29.1% annually to 10.78 million mt, supported by exports to Europe and the Middle East, especially for HRC.
The UAE took the second spot for Indian finished steel exports with 1.27 million mt, a 52.7% hike from the year before. The bulk of the exports to the UAE was HRC, which stood at 784,100 mt, a 32.2% rise from 592,900 mt.
Italy and Belgium took the third and fourth positions, respectively, with 1.26 million mt and 1.12 million mt. The former was up 24% year on year while the latter more than doubled its imports from India.
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