Indonesian foreign minister

A cut of steel prices from Vietnam’s major steelmakers will drive up the domestic market in the next months.

Vietnamese businesses are hoping to maintain stable prices of steel products from now on until the end of this year after the market has witnessed a decline in prices in recent weeks.

The cut of still prices announced by the local major steelmakers on June 9 is seen as a poke to push back the stagnancy of the steel market, which had had a price hike since late 2020.

Steel production at Siam Steel Vietnam. Photo: Hai Linh

Hoa Phat Group quoted the price of rolled steel model CB240 at VND17.2 million (US$750) per ton, down by nearly VND1 million (US$43) from the peak at VND18.3 million (US$794) recorded one month ago, while the price of steel bar also decreased by VND500,000-700,000 (US$21.7-30.3) per ton.

Prices of rolled steels produced by Viet Duc steel are also cut by VND960,000 (US$42) per ton against early June to VND17 million (US$738).

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) Do Xuan Chieu said lower steel prices in the domestic market was due to the decline in prices of input materials, including iron ore, steel ingots, which make up 70-80% of the list prices.

Chieu referred to the fact that most-traded September iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange ended at the lowest point since June at US$173.03 per ton, while the July contract for iron ore on the Singapore Exchange also declined by 2% to US$173.03.

“A stagnant in steel demand from the Chinese market has led to prices decline,” said Chieu.

In the Vietnamese market, VSA Chairman Nghiem Xuan Da attributed freezing construction activities as in the rainy season in June and July to low demand for steel.

According to Da, the peak season for construction would normally fall in the first and fourth quarters of the year.

“The declines, however, remain modest at around 3-5%, as steel prices are expected to go up as construction activities heat up,” he noted.

A recent report from Fitch Solutions suggested global steel prices would reach US$800 per ton in the final half of this year, an increase of US$140 per ton against its previous forecast, pointing out an imbalance between supply and demand.

Fitch Solutions experts have also said that the decline in steel prices would be insignificant as consumption demand is forecast to go up.

Steel prices are predicted to moderate to around US$600 per ton by 2022, stated Fitch Solutions.

Halt on increasing steel prices

To further halt the steel price hiking, Da from the VSA noted that along with keeping operational costs at an efficient level, local steel producers should prioritize domestic markets as measures to prevent steel prices from surging.

“Policies from the government are needed to temporarily discourage steel exports,” Da said.

At a recent meeting with local steel producers, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien stressed the necessity for local firms to focus on iron ore mining and processing, in turn creating stable supplies of input materials for steel production.

“Vietnamese steel producers should pay more attention to the R&D process to better ensure the supply sources and produce higher quality steel products,” he added.

Economist Vu Dinh Anh told The Hanoi Times that as steel prices are driven by the market, construction companies should draft plans to keep a hold on steel supplies to minimize impacts from rising steel prices.

“The government can only intervene when there is a major disruption to the local market,” Anh said.

Bac Giang lychee has been shipped to more than 30 countries.

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Nguyen Hong Dien on May 25 discussed measures for the consumption of lychee in Bac Giang, the lychee hub of Vietnam.

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien at the meeting on May 25. Photo: MOIT

The discussions were crucial for Bac Giang which tops the country for the number of Covid-19 infections in the fresh wave of coronavirus with 1,400 cases.

MoIT held the meeting with Bac Giang’s authorities following the request made by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh who said that the ministry needs to take all measures to facilitate the consumption as lychee gives high economic values.

According to Chairman of the Bac Giang People’s Committee Le Anh Duong, Bac Giang has more than 28,000 ha, mostly in Luc Ngan district, yielding around 180,000 tons in this season that lasts from May 20 to July 20.

Duong said the lychee turnover likely reaches VND7 trillion (US$304 million).

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said the ministry will facilitate domestic consumption, export, and e-commerce.

Lychee in Luc Ngan district, Bac Giang. Photo: Do Huong/VGP

In early May, the Ministry of Public Security agreed to allow the entry of 190 Chinese traders to buy lychee in Bac Giang. China is the traditional market of Luc Ngan lychee.

To keep the lychee hub safe from Covid-19, Luc Ngan has set up checkpoints at the entrance gates to tighten control on visitors, mostly traders and workers coming for lychee transactions. The local authorities will also disinfect all lychee batches before the shipment.

Notably, each pack will be labeled certificate of origin and phytosanitary certificate.

Vietnamese lychee is a favorite fruit of Chinese customers. The majority of Vietnam’s lychee, which is also grown in Hai Duong province and other parts of the country, is exported to China.

So far, Vietnam’s lychee has been shipped to more than 30 countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Japan, Canada, South Korea, the US, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Luc Ngan lychee has been awarded geographical indication (GI) by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the first product of Vietnam to win such certification in Japan.

Vietnam ranks third worldwide for the volume of lychee with approximately 380,000 tons/year, behind China with two million tons/year and India 677,000 tons/year.

Hanoi (VNA) – Online advertising, as the first choice of firms and brands amid the pandemic, is thriving in Vietnam and could reach the milestone of 1 billion USD in revenue this year.

According to the Vietnam Digital Marketing Trends 2021 report by Novaon, Vietnam’s online ad market will continue growing during the 2020-2025 period, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.5 percent. Despite the pandemic last year, online ad revenue still reached 820 million USD, which is forecast to rise to 955.7 million USD this year.

Chairman of the Clever Group Nguyen Khanh Trinh expressed his optimism about the annual growth of 10-20 percent in the sector.

Last year, Vietnam’s digital economy was worth 14 billion USD, which is forecast to reach 52 billion USD by 2025. In particular, e-commerce expanded by 46 percent as Vietnamese spend 3.5 – 4.2 hours per day on the internet, which gives an edge for the online advertising sector to earn 1 billion USD this year.

However, the sector also faces unfair competition with cross-border platforms like Facebook and Google accounting for over 80 percent of online ads revenue in Vietnam.

At present, Facebook, Google Ads, YouTube and channels of key opinion leaders are the first choices of domestic firms for online ads, which spent an average 17 percent of their revenue on digital marketing in 2020.

Statistics showed that only about 5 percent of firms do not or have yet to use Facebook for their marketing campaigns. Many others spent more than 50 percent of their online ads budget on Facebook instead of other channels.

Nguyen Dang Ngoc, Deputy Director of the VCCorp, said customers prefer using ad services by cross-border platforms because they do not have to fulfill taxation and fee obligations.

The Decree No.38//2021/ND-CP regulating administrative fines in culture and ads, which took effect on June 1, 2021, is expected to fill gaps to promote fair competition in the field, making it easier for domestic firms to win market share from foreign giants./.

VNA