Steel makers see profits skyrocket

Steel manufacturers in Vietnam have seen profits increase as much 30-40 times in the first quarter as demand surges and prices rise.

In Hanoi, Me Lin Steel saw a post-tax profit surge 41 times year-on-year to VND15.5 billion ($672 million), as steel prices started rising towards the end of last year and the company managed to cut costs.

Tien Len Group in the southern province of Dong Nai saw its post-tax profit rise 30 times year-on-year to over VND120 billion, meeting half of this year’s target.

Meanwhile, the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel (TISCO) company in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, which has been reporting repeated losses, posted its highest first-quarter profit in the last three years at VND44 billion.

The Hoa Phat Group has not released its profit figures, but saw March sales hitting a new record one million tons, the highest monthly figure ever.

The profit surge has happened as steel prices skyrocket due to limited availability of materials from China and India even as the global economy recovers from Covid-19 impacts.

Material prices have risen 30-40 percent from early March and are expected to continue rising until the end of the third quarter, according to the Vietnam Steel Association.

Analysts with leading brokerage SSI Securities Corporation have said that local steel producers are benefiting from the recovery of the real estate market, foreign direct investment and public spending on infrastructure.

Some big companies, like HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, can take advantage of the low supply of hot-rolled coil steel and do even better next year, they said.