HCMC – Though local steelmaker Hoa Phat Group ramped up production in April, with raw steel output rising 19% month-on-month to 525,000 tons, its sales dropped further to 457,000 tons, down 8% versus March and 24% against last April.
It sold around 239,000 tons of hot rolled coils (HRC) in the month, the highest since the beginning of the year. Construction steel sales dropped 28% versus last April to 214,000 tons due to weak demand in the domestic and global markets.
Sales of steel pipes and galvanized steel inched up over the same period last year, at 49,000 and 32,800 tons, respectively.
From January to April, the manufacturer produced nearly 1.8 million tons of raw steel, plunging 39% year-on-year.
It sold over one million tons of construction steel and 721,000 tons of HRC in the period, down 34% and 29% over the same period last year, respectively.
Sales of steel pipes and galvanized steel in the four months declined 20% and 25% year-on-year, at 209,000 tons and 102,000 tons.
The local steelmaker made a turnaround after six months of losses with a profit of VND383 billion in the first quarter of 2023, according to its consolidated earnings report.
This year, the local steel manufacturer looks to obtain total revenue of VND150 trillion, down 5% year-on-year, and increase its profit after tax by 5%, at VND8 trillion.
Its stock HPG closed the trading session today, May 9, up 0.93% against the previous session, at VND21,800 per share, with a matching volume of 22.4 million shares.
With advancers outnumbering decliners by 214 to 163, the VN-Index of the Hochiminh Stock Exchange inched up 0.33 points, or a factional 0.03%, over the session earlier, at 1,053.77 points.
More than 564.4 million shares worth over VND9.3 trillion were traded on the southern bourse, dipping 14% in volume and 13% in value compared to the previous session. Over 61.8 million shares traded in block deals contributed around VND1.3 trillion to the overall value.
Securities stock VIX took the lead by liquidity today with a matching volume of more than 27.5 million shares and finished the day at its upper limit, at VND9,410 per share.
On the northern bourse, the HNX-Index added 1.03 points, or 0.49%, from the previous session to 211.95 points, with 90 winners and 73 losers.
Trade on the Hanoi exchange amounted to over VND1.1 trillion with 77.3 million shares changing hands.
Source: The SaigonTimes