Market Trends of Vietnam Structural Steel Fabrication Industry
Increase In Infrastructure Activities is boosting the production
Vietnam is currently the top producer in the region because it makes up 29% of all the crude steel made. Vietnam's steel industry has grown rapidly over the last ten years, and by 2021 it is expected to rank 13 globally, with domestic crude steel output reaching a record level of 19.5 million tons per year.
Vietnam has heavily invested in transportation, particularly roads, airports, and seaports. Vietnam’s public and private investment in infrastructure reached 5.7% of GDP in recent years, the highest in Southeast Asia and second highest in Asia after only China (6.8% of GDP).
Recently, the Vietnamese government approved a plan to spend USD 43-65 billion on building and upgrading road, rail, inland waterways, sea, and air transport infrastructure between 2021-2030.
The government also enacted a new Public Private Partnership (PPP) Law, effective March 29, 2021, to support and regulate private investment to scale up infrastructure upgrades, especially in the transportation, power grid, and power plant sectors. This movement is to attract more private investment to reduce the burden on the national debt and fiscal policy.
In addition, rapid urbanization in Vietnam is a strong driver for developing the transport and utilities sector. With 50% of the population estimated to now live in major cities, the rising population has already exceeded the capacity of the existing connectivity networks and utility systems.
When it comes to moving materials, Vietnam follows the standard method of using blast furnaces to turn iron ore and iron smelting into steel. Compared to electric induction furnace technology, which accounts for about 30% of production, this technique accounts for 70%. The OECD (2021) estimated that Vietnam's steelmaking induction furnace capacity is 1.63 million metric tons, ranking third among ASEAN economies.
FDI Inflows are increasing in Vietnam
- In the past few years, political tensions between the U.S. and China have caused multinational companies to move south of the border to diversify their supply chains. This has made Vietnam a hotspot for foreign direct investment.
- Vietnam brought in USD 25.1 billion in the first 11 months of 2022. The Republic of South Korea is the nation that invests the most in Vietnam. By November 2022, the RoK had committed more than USD 80 billion to foreign direct investment projects in Vietnam.
- Vietnam needs FDI because it lacks the capital and various essential skills required to successfully build its economy. Thanks to FDI, which also supplies capital and constructs factories and other facilities, millions of jobs are created for Vietnamese citizens.
- Foreign investment in Vietnam remains a bright spot on Vietnam's economic picture, despite experiencing a year-on-year decrease in value.
- Data from the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed there were 2,036 newly-registered foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth USD 12.45 billion, up 17.1 per cent year-on-year in the number of projects, but down 18.4 per cent in value.
- In addition, 1,107 projects had their capital adjusted, with a total amount of USD 10.12 billion, up 12.4 per cent and 12.2 per cent year-on-year, respectively.
- Foreign investors poured funds into 19 out of 21 sectors in the national economic classification system, of which the processing and manufacturing industry maintained its lead in terms of attracting FDI with a total investment of over USD 16.8 billion, accounting for 60.6 per cent of the country’s total capital.
