Vietnam extends steel billet, bar/wire rod import duties until 2023

Singapore — Vietnam extended antidumping duties on steel billet, bars and wire rods for the next three years, the industry and trade ministry said in a March 20 notice seen by S&P Global Platts.

The duties were extended effective March 22, a day after the expiry of the previous duties which took effect March 2016, according to the notice. In the first year, the duties will stay at 15.3% for billet and 9.4% for bar/wire rod products.

"This is good news for the local industry," a southern Vietnamese mill source said. "But the current outlook now seems more overwhelmingly worrisome, as steel demand is lackluster, with the possibility of a global recession looming large."

In the second year of the safeguards, the duties will be reduced to 13.3% for billet and 7.9% for bar/wire rod products, and in the third year, through March 21, 2023, they will drop to 11.3% for billet and 6.4% for bar/wire rod products, according to the notice.

Since 2016, the duties were imposed to protect local steelmakers from billet imports by countries including China, Russia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia,