Last year, steel exports reached more than 2 million tonnes, earning the country US$2 billion in turnover, according to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA).

The result was attributable to the growing efforts by steel companies to seek new export opportunities at a time when supply was exceeding domestic demand, the VSA said.

Despite encouraging export performance, the steel industry still faced three anti-dumping lawsuits last year, including an investigation by the Indonesian Anti-Dumping Committee o­n Vietnamese cold-rolled steel, a US Department of Commerce (DoC) anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigation o­n imports of circulate welded carbon steel pipes and another DoC dumping claim over Vietnamese steel-made clothes hangers.

"I think these lawsuits are just the beginning. In the future, when we try to boost steel exports to deal with slumping domestic consumption, we will likely cope with more anti-dumping suits from importing countries," VSA general secretary Dinh Huy Tam told Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon (Saigon Economic Times).

The steel supply was currently far exceeding demand but there remained a massive influx of investment into the industry. Because the local market scale was small, enterprises had no choice but to promote exports, Tam said.

Steel exporters should gain an understanding of the rules and regulations of import countries, which they had neglected in the past, in order to minimise the possibility of being subjected to anti-dumping duties in the near future, he said.

February's steel consumption volume reached roughly 360,000 tonnes, marking a 50 per cent increase over the previous month, the VSA said.

However, last month's export quantity was still lower than the previous average rate of 400,000-420,000 each month, it said.

The association also predicted that the local demand for steel would remain modest in the coming months as State-invested real estate and infrastructure construction projects were under strict supervision.

The industry currently holds 350,000 tonnes of steel in stock, not including 560,000 tonnes of steel ingots which will be slated for production this month.