Domestic steel sector sees high hope for recovery in 2024: Experts

With bright signs seen in the last months of 2023, many experts predicted that the domestic steel sector can recover in 2024.

According to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA), steel sales in November and December 2023 reached the highest levels in 20 months with growth between 20-40% for different products.

This year, along with a bright outlook of the domestic economy plus the government’s policies to promote public investment, steel production and consumption may reach 29 million tonnes and 21.67 million tonnes, marking rises of 6.7% and 7.4% year on year, respectively, it said.

Meanwhile, Viet Dragon Securities forecast that construction steel sales of Vietnam’s leading producer – Hoa Phat Group, will surge 29% to 4.8 million tonnes in 2024 due to higher demand for construction materials.

In the last month of 2023 alone, the Vietnam Steel Corporation (VSA) sold more than 324,300 tonnes of steel, up 53% over the previous month and 36% year on year.

To meet the market's increasing demand, the Hoa Phat Group plans to put the second phase of its factory complex into operations in 2025, doubling the plant’s hot rolled coil production capacity to 6 million tonnes.

Steel expert Nguyen Van Sua held that as domestic firms have recovered and stayed ready for opportunities, the government, ministries and sectors should design stronger policies to boost the real estate market to support the breakthrough of the steel sector in 2024.

He advised steel producers to focus on green production by applying green technologies to reduce carbon emissions and expand export markets.

VSA General Secretary Dinh Quoc Thai asserted that domestic steel demands will surge again along with the recovery of the real estate market in 2024, with an expected increase of construction projects. The government is likely to speed up the disbursement of public investment capital in 2024 to create breakthrough growth, motivating the expansion of some sectors, including steel.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that it will continue to research and apply suitable trade defence measures to protect the domestic steel market, while coordinate with associations and businesses in the industry to grasp opportunities in the domestic market.

Particularly in the third quarter of 2024, the ministry will complete the building of a steel strategy until 2030 with a visit to 2050 to lay a foundation for the industry’s fast and sustainable growth./.