Vietnam has extended duties on wire rod and rebar imports for another three years while terminating the measure for billet, the Trade Remedies Authority said March 24, citing decisions by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

          The measures were implemented in March 2016 to protect Vietnamese steelmakers from billet and wire rod imports from countries including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia and Thailand, and extended in March 2020 for three years.

          Among the major competitors in Southeast Asia is Malaysia’s Alliance Steel, which has 3.5 million mt/year of production capacity at Gebeng, Kuantan, comprising high-speed wire rod, bar rod and H-beams.

          The duties stood at 15.3% for billet and 9.4% for bar/wire rod products over March 2020-March 2021, 13.3% and 7.9% respectively over March 2021-March 2022 and 11.3% and 6.4% over March 2022-March 2023.

          In the ministry’s decision No. 691/QD-BCT dated March 21,  the duties for bar/wire rod products will be lowered to 6.3% over March 22, 2023-March 21, 2024, then to 6.2% over March

          22, 2024-March 21, 2025 and 6.1% over March 22, 2025-March 21, 2026. If there are no further extensions or reviews, the duties will end on March 22, 2026.

          Domestic long steel producers likely reap the most benefit from the measures; Hoa Phat has production capacities of 2.2 million mt/year of wire rod and 3.4 million mt/year of rebar, while Formosa Ha Tinh has 1.2 million mt/year of wire rod production capacity.

          “Vietnam is extending antidumping duties for long products but removing for steel billets,” a trader said, adding that domestic scrap prices were falling due to weak demand and no antidumping duties.

          Another Vietnamese trader said several Vietnamese mills had lowered domestic scrap prices March 27, including Hoa Phat and Tisco, adding that “billets [prices] dropped too”.

          The decision to extend the measures for bar/wire rod comes as Vietnam’s steel market is projected to recover in the second half of 2023, said Doan Danh Tuan, vice chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association and chairman of the Toan Thang Steel Trading Company on March 24.

----- S&P Global Commodity Insights.