Daily Steel News - 18 Mar 09

Vietnamese steelmakers call for higher import taxes
Vietnamese domestic billet manufacturers: Dinh Vu Steel Company, Van Loi Steel Company, Hoa Phat Company, and Hung Yen Metal Company sent a joint statement to the government requesting that the steel import duty be raised to 5 to 17 percent due to oversupply and weak demand in the domestic market.Vietnam’s domestic production is estimated to hit 5.5 million tons this year. However, domestic sales declined by 29 percent to 433,000 tons in the first two years. Vietnam’s prices have fallen in line with dropping global steel prices. Current billet inventories reached 450,000 tons, which can meet demand for March and April.