Vietnam's steel industry saw a mixed performance during the first two months of the year, reflecting seasonal shifts and market uncertainties.

Steel production and consumption showed signs of post-holiday recovery in February, but overall momentum remained fragile, especially in the export segment.

In February 2025, Vietnam's crude steel production reached approximately 1.79 million tonnes, rising 6.5% from January and 9.1% year-on-year, Kallanish learns from the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA).

This growth indicates a short-term recovery in operational activity as mills resumed production following the Lunar New Year break.

However, the trend in finished steel output was more subdued. Total production of finished steel products stood at 2.152mt in February, down 6.25% compared to January. The contraction was not uniform across the product categories. Steel pipe output surged 16.47% month-on-month, while cold-rolled coil (CRC) increased 7.36% m-o-m.

On the other hand, key segments such as hot-rolled coil, rebar, and coated steel recorded m-o-m declines.

Compared to February 2024, CRC production saw a growth of 52%, followed by steel pipe at 22.1%, and coated steel products at 5.8%. Meanwhile, HRC and rebar production declined 15.3% and 5.7%, respectively.

Domestic sales of finished steel in Vietnam were a bright spot in February, reaching 2.4mt, an increase of 16.63% m-o-m and 29.8% y-o-y. This recovery was driven by strong demand post-Tet holiday, with growth seen in most categories except HRC, which declined by 10.06% from January and 12.3% y-o-y.

Steel exports, however, continued to underperform. Total finished steel exports in February dropped to around 455,000t, according to the data from VSA, falling 4.22% from January and plunging 37.5% compared to the same period in 2024.

Export performance was uneven across product types which saw growth of steel pipe by 30.5%, rebar by 10.8%, and CRC by 4.8%, while HRC and coated products experienced significant declines.

Looking at the cumulative data for the first two months of 2025, finished steel production reached 4.45mt, a 5.2% decrease compared to the same period last year. Within this, CRC output continued its strong upward trajectory with a 20.3% increase, while steel pipe and coated steel also posted slight gains of 1.4-1.6%. Conversely, both HRC and rebar production declined.

On the demand side, total finished steel sales over the two-month period amounted to 4.479mt, marking a 4.6% y-o-y increase. Growth in sales was led by rebar (up 11.5%), CRC (up 34.5%), and steel pipe (up 16.8%), while HRC and coated steel lagged behind.

Export performance over the first two months remained a key weakness. Vietnam exported just over 941,000t of finished steel products, down 39.3% y-o-y, VSA data shows. While CRC exports grew sharply by 75%, and steel pipe exports rose 19.9%, most other categories experienced significant declines, reflecting weak international demand and increased global competition.