HANOI - Vietnam is accelerating production of steel billets and finished products, import billets from more countries, lower production costs and improve distribution networks to curb rising steel prices, according to a local industry association on Tuesday.
Steel enterprises in Vietnam have recently agreed that they would not raise selling prices of steel products if prices of imported steel billets stand at 900 U.S. dollars per ton, said the Vietnam Steel Association. If the import prices exceed the 900- dollar threshold, they would discuss with the association about adjusting their selling prices.
Vietnam imported over 2.1 million tons of steel billets and finished products worth nearly 1.5 billion dollars in the first two months of this year, seeing year-on-year respective surges of 114.6 percent and 160.5 percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office.
Vietnam imported 627,000 tons of steel billets, material for steel production, valued at 384 million dollars between January and February, up 98.7 percent and 182.9 percent, respectively.
