VN steel firm Hoa Phat sees 65% rise in sales

V I ET NA MESE s t e e l ma k e r Hoa Phat Group JSC sold ne a r l y 5 0 0,0 0 0 ton ne s of products last month, including more than 320,000 tonnes of steel and 170,000 tonnes of bi l lets despite t he Cov id-19 pandemic.

The volume of steel soared by 65 per cent month-onmonth, i ncl udi ng 5 4 , 0 0 0 tonnes for export, triple that of the same period last year.

Despite poor weather conditions and social distancing orders necessitated by the pandemic, consumption of Hoa Phat steel in civil construction remains high.

In the first eight months of this year, Hoa Phat produced 3.2 million tonnes of steel products, including 2.1 million tonnes of construction steel, with the remainder billets.

Steel for export surpassed 17 per cent annually to more than 310,000 tonnes, nearly doubling year-on-year. Its major markets include Cambodia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, Thailand and Laos.

The group also sold 1.5 million tonnes of billets to domestic and foreign markets.

This month, it will also begin supplying hot-rolled coil steel to the market.

Cambodia was the largest market last year, to which Hoa Phat shipped 151,000 tonnes of steel, accounting for more than 50 per cent of its total export volume. The Kingdom ordered 70,000 tonnes of steel from the company in 2018.

The company has highlighted the importance of the Cambodian market. Its proximity to Vietnam helps reduce transportation costs, while the Kingdom’s steel industry’s current inability to keep up with demand presents a fruitful opportunity for the firm.

On the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, Hoa Phat’s share price rose 150 dong (0.65 US cents) or 0.61 per cent to close at 24,650 dong ($1.07) on Wednesday for a market capitalisation of 81.18 trillion dong, with 12.58 million shares traded.