That is the judgment of the Ministry of Planning and Investment in the evaluation report of some industries in the first 6 months and is expected for the second half of 2017; Many industries are facing difficulties, including steel and cement.
Specifically, the price of iron ore 62% Fe, after rising to US $ 95 / ton at the end of February 2017, has been adjusted down to US $ 56 / ton. Iron ore processing industry also did not meet expectations, according to the Vietnam Steel Association, construction steel growth in the first 6 months of 2017 was only 3.9%, much lower than the initial expectation of 12%. Meanwhile, new projects continue to “sell out” by the end of this year. Hoa Phat Group plans to put a color-coated corrugated iron factory with a capacity of 400,000 tons / year into production, Viet Duc Steel Pipe Company also put into operation a long-rolling steel mill of 350,000 tons / year, a steel and steel project of Formosa 1 -1.3 million tons in 2017.
To ensure the development of the steel industry, the Ministry of Planning and Investment believes that it is necessary to continue researching and applying safeguard measures on steel products vulnerable to imports.
The total capacity of blast furnaces will operate in 2017 is 6.5 million tons / year. While the demand for blast furnace slag from cement plants in Vietnam is not used up, the export of blast furnace slag is a temporary measure. Therefore, the Ministry of Planning and Investment proposed the Ministry of Finance to make appropriate tax changes to support exporters of blast furnace slag and increase the use of slag in construction.
Regarding the cement industry, according to a report of the Vietnam Cement Association, the total capacity of the cement industry has reached 86 million tons, while the consumption capacity of the domestic market is expected to be only about 60 million tons. So 26 million tons of excess cement must find the way to export.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment said that cement production enterprises are all looking for export plans to deal with the domestic oversupply. However, with the change in tax policy leading to cement export fees, clinker may be up to 4.5 USD / ton clinker and 7.5 USD / ton cement. The Ministry of Planning and Investment also proposed that the Ministry of Construction consider adjusting the planning of cement industry, the Ministry of Finance shall study and report to the Government and the National Assembly to allow the deduction of input value added tax and export tax. is applying 5% to a lower level to remove difficulties for cement businesses.
