Finance Ministry halves steel export tariff

23/09/2008

The Finance Ministry has decided to reduce the export tax levied on non-alloy iron and steel products to 10 percent from the current level of 20 percent, in order to remove difficulties faced by local businesses.

Earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed the Finance Ministry slash the export tariff on steel billets from 20 percent to 5 percent.

The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) said the move will help domestic firms to boost exports of these products, as they have experienced slow sales despite a decrease of 3 million VND per tonne compared with peak prices.

According to the VSA, the amount of steel billets and products currently stocked by businesses is estimated at 500,000 tonnes.

In early August, the Finance Ministry doubled the export tax on steel and steel billets to 20 percent to limit the re-export of the materials due to weaker domestic demand.

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