HCMC – The construction steel market has seen an eighth consecutive decline in selling prices in the past two months, given the weak demand in the market and the increase in construction material costs, which has resulted in the suspension of construction works.
The construction steel price has declined by a sharp VND4 million per ton, with rolled steel selling at VND16.24-VND16.6 million per ton, the local media reported.
Some steelmakers in northern Vietnam such as Hoa Phat, Viet Duc, Kyoei and Viet Y have reduced their steel prices.
Hoa Phat has cut the prices of rolled steel CB240 ton and the rebar D10 CB300 by VND360,000 per to VND16.24 million and VND16.6 million per ton. Viet Duc has seen a drop of VND300,000 and VND190,000, Viet Y at VND200,000 and VND210,000, and Kyoei at VND200,000 and VND140,000 per ton.
This is the eighth consecutive time in two months steel companies have had to lower their prices, dropping from the peak of VND20 million to around VND16 million per ton.
The prices of other construction materials have also slipped 5-10%.
According to statistics, the domestic demand for steel during the last five months has dropped by around 6% over the same period last year. April and May witnessed the biggest drop of over 30% over the same period.
Aside from lower demand and hiked material costs, the steel price has jumped to its peak recently, forcing many distributors to scale down inventory. Furthermore, credit tightening has impacted many property projects, causing construction demand to fall.
