Steel products of Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Joint Stock Corporation. The industry association said that domestic steel sales posted a significant rise, resulting in higher steel imports. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hung

The numbers were up 24.7 per cent and 2.3 per cent in volume and value, respectively, against the same period last year.

Imports from China were at 8.22 million tonnes, worth more than $3.25 billion, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the total volume and 55.7 per cent of the total value. Import numbers from Japan and South Korea were 2.11 million tonnes and 1.33 million tonnes, worth $907 million and $722 million, respectively.

With this import value, iron and steel products was ranked fifth among the country's 10 largest imported products in the first nine months of the year.

The Viet Nam Steel Association attributed the increase in steel imports to rising construction demand in the domestic market. Domestic steel sales surged 27.8 per cent year-on-year, the association reported.

Anti-dumping review

In another movement, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) last week announced the preliminary results of the administrative review of the anti-dumping duty imposed on some of Viet Nam's oil country tubular goods (OCTG).

The review was conducted at the request of Viet Nam's SEAH Steel VINA Corporation (SSV) on OCTG for the period from February 25, 2014, to August 31, 2015. OCTGs are essentially tubes that are used in oil and gas production.

As per a notice published in the US' Federal Register on October 14, the DOC's review has determined that SSV did not sell the concerned merchandise in the US at rates below the normal value during the period of review (POR). The weighted average dumping margin for the POR for SSV is zero per cent.

However, the anti-dumping duty of 111.47 per cent, announced on July 11 for other Vietnamese OCTG exporters, remains unchanged.

In the notice, the DOC said that interested parties can submit case briefs within 30 days after the date of publication of these preliminary results in the Federal Register. Rebuttals to case briefs, which must be restricted to issues raised in the case briefs, can be filed within five days after the deadline for filing case briefs.

Exporters who want a hearing must submit a written request to the assistant secretary for enforcement and compliance within 30 days of the date of publication of this notice, the DOC has said.

The DOC will issue the final results of the administrative review, which will include the results of analysis of all issues raised in the case briefs, within 120 days of publication of the preliminary results. — VNS