Hoa Phat Group, a major industrial group in Viet Nam, produced a record volume of finished steel products – three million tonnes – in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 25 per cent, the group’s managers said on Thursday.

Of this, construction steel accounted for 2.2 million tonnes, while steel pipes contributed to 600,000 tonnes and the remaining was galvanised steel.

Last year, Hoa Phat exported some 200,000 tonnes of steel products. They included 161,000 tonnes of steel bars and rolled steel to the United States, Canada, Australia, Malaysia and Cambodia.

The increase in export volume to strict markets showed high competitiveness of the group’s steel products, especially high-quality rolled steel with code SAE1006 and SAE1008.

It was the first time Hoa Phat Steel surpassed an annual production of two million tonnes, a year-on-year surge of 20 per cent and 10 per cent higher than its plan for 2017.

In the domestic market, Hoa Phat continued to top the market share with 24 per cent. Sales in the central and southern regions grew rapidly.

Hoa Phat sold 79,000 tonnes of pig irons at home and foreign markets. It also consumed over 600,000 tonnes of steel pipes and 200,000 tonnes of galvanised steel sheets, exceeding its yearly targets for 2017.

Hoa Phat is the leading player in the steel industry in Viet Nam. Both construction steel and steel pipes of the group are leading the market, accounting for 24 per cent and nearly 27 per cent of market shares, respectively. — VNS