According to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA), steel pipe output of VSA members in November reached 183,400 tons, up 6.30% compared to the previous month, and up 1.4% compared to the same period in 2016. Steel pipe sales reached 185,331 tons, up 5.21% compared to October.
However, welded steel pipe exports reached 14,563 tons, down nearly half compared to October but still up 38.3% compared to the same period in 2016.
In the first 11 months of 2017, steel pipe production of VSA members reached 2.15 million tons, up 26.2% compared to the same period in 2016. Welded steel pipe sales reached 2.14 million tons, up 27% compared to the same period last year. Steel pipe exports doubled compared to the same period in 2016, reaching 267,271 tons.
Competition among manufacturers is increasingly fierce in maintaining market share. In 11 months, Hoa Phat continued to lead with 26.69% market share, with output reaching 583,000 tons and sales reaching 573,400 tons.
Hoa Sen Group ranked second with 18.15% market share, output reaching 383,788 tons and sales reaching 389,821 tons.
Input material prices increased in November. Iron ore prices on December 6, 2017 increased by 5 USD/ton compared to early November 2017, reaching 67.7 USD/ton CFR at Tianjin port, China.
In addition, the price of imported coking coal at Jingtang port (CFR price) on December 4, 2017 also increased sharply by 10-20% compared to the beginning of November. Specifically, the price of premium hard coking coal increased by 36 USD, equivalent to 20.5%, to 216.6 USD/ton. At the same time, the price of JM25 hard coking coal increased by 10.9%, equivalent to 16.6 USD/ton, to 168.3 USD/ton.
Meanwhile, the price of scrap steel in East Asia increased sharply while in other regions it remained unchanged or decreased slightly. The price of HMS 1/2 80:20 scrap on December 7, 2017 imported from East Asia ports increased by 30-35 USD/ton compared to the beginning of November 2017, to 350-360 USD/ton CFR East Asia.