Vietnam is likely to set a ceiling retail price for steel, in an effort to stabilize the market, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Thursday.
Under a suggestion by the Vietnamese Finance Ministry to the government, the ceiling price would be applied when the import price of steel billets exceeds 600 U.S. dollars per ton, steel price in the domestic market rises above 680 dollars.
However, it is very difficult to set an exact price, said Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association Nguyen Tien Nghi.
If the ceiling is not suitable, some private steel producers will stop production to avoid loss, Nguyen Tien Nghi said, adding "if this happens, we will face a steel shortage and this is even more dangerous than a higher price."
Vietnam imported over 5.5 million tons of steel billets and finished products worth more than 3.4 billion dollars in the first nine months of this year, posting respective year-on-year surges of 28.9 percent and 57 percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office.
Steel makers in the country had a combined annual production capacity of some 6 million tons by late last year, according to the association.
Source: Xinhua
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