Vietnam Exempts 11 Enterprises from Safeguard Measures on Imports of Colour-Coated Steel

Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has decided to lift safeguard measures from imports of colour-coated steel sheets for nine enterprises that were imposed on 31 May 2017.

After the safeguard measures were imposed in 2017, the MoIT’s Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) has received appeals requesting exemptions of safeguard measures on imported high-quality colour-coated iron for production purposes.

After assessing the appeals, the MoIT chose to exempt safeguard measures for the production of welding materials on imports for 11 enterprises including Superior Multi Packaging Vietnam Company Limited, LG Electronics Vietnam Hai Phong Company, Savican JSC, Minh Quan Food Packaging Company, Panasonic Appliances Vietnam Company Limited, Panasonic Vietnam Company Limited, Hoa Phat Refrigeration Engineering Company, Aqua Vietnam Company, Dong Anh Investment Contruction and Materials JSC, Tan Ha Education Equipment Company Ltd and Vietnam Printing And Metal Packaging Joint Stock Company.

The ministry would continue to review other applications for exemptions in the future. Enterprises exempted from safeguards must submit reports on the imports to the VCA within the first 15 days of the following quarter. Any queries and opinions of organisations and individuals on the application of safeguard measures for imported painted steel products should be sent to Injury and Safeguards Investigation Division under the Trade Remedies Authority.

Vietnam’s Hoa Phat steel exports up by 51% y-o-y

Hoa Phat Group the largest steelmaker in the country, exported 240,000 tonnes of steel in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 51%. The company also reported an increase of 8% y-o-y in its steel output in 2018.

Cambodia was the biggest steel importing country for Hoa Phat last year with nearly 70,000 tonnes of steel being exported to it by the group. Whereas its other key market, Japan saw a growth of 20 times in imports of steel from Hoa Phat as the same was recorded over 58,500 tonnes. This was followed by Cambodia (246%) and Malaysia (202%).
In case of U.S. market, despite a 25% tariff on most steel imports under the Trump administration’s Section 232, Hoa Phat managed to sell 35,600 tonnes to the market, accounting for 15% of the group’s total exports. In 2018, the group’s steel was shipped to 14 countries across five continents.

source: SteelMint