Vietnam imported more than 1.6 million tons of finished steel products worth 1.1 billion US dollars in the first half of this year, posting year-on-year increases of 18 percent and 46.6 percent, respectively, partly to serve construction projects.

Most of the products came from China, Russia, Ukraine and Malaysia, according to the country's Ministry of Trade on Wednesday.

Vietnam produced nearly 1.7 million tons of finished steel in the first 6 months, up 19.5 percent over the same period last year. It is expected monthly consume 750,000 tons of construction steel in the third quarter.

Vietnam, which imported 5.1 million tons of finished steel, steel billets and iron in 2004, imported nearly 2.7 million tons of the goods in the first 6 months of 2005, posting year-on-year rises of 30.6 percent and 11.1 percent, respectively.

Source: Xinhua