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A production line of sports shoes for export at a company in Thu Duc City. (Photo: SGGP) Orders are plentiful again After a long time struggling to maintain operations due to the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, many enterprises in the leather and footwear industry have now found a way to keep production. Many enterprises even have received many orders. “Since the Covid-19 pandemic occurred, especially during the outbreak in Europe, customers in this market canceled nearly 80 percent of orders. The few remaining customers asked to defer payment or discount prices, causing the company to fall into difficulties. Almost every month, the company had to make up for losses to maintain production. Fortunately, we now have reconnected with our customers and reached an agreement to share difficulties and profits in the context that the pandemic will continue to develop complicatedly. Owing to that, we have had enough orders until the end of the year," said Mr. Dang Van Ngoc, Director of Tan Phat Company Limited in Hoc Mon District of Ho Chi Minh City. According to Chairman of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear, and Handbag Association (Lefaso) Nguyen Duc Thuan, orders for footwear and handbags are shifting to Vietnam more and more. This is also the time and the opportunity for enterprises to restore production and reconnect supply chains. Lefaso's representative also said that although the production and business situation of all enterprises has not yet returned to normalcy as before, in general, many enterprises have maintained their performance and overcome difficulties, making good use of the market. For example, in early 2020, Vinh Yen Shoes Joint Stock Company encountered several difficulties because people in the EU and US markets tended to cut spending. Besides, many supermarkets were closed for Covid-19 prevention. However, with many flexible administrative solutions, from the last months of 2020 to now, the production and business activities of Vinh …

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Vegetable and fruit prices have plummeted recently because they cannot be exported to China. In fruit centers, farmers are incurring big losses despite bountiful crops. Vietnam is in high fruit harvesting season with the output expected to reach hundreds of thousands of tons. But, exports to China have got stuck because of Covid-19. Prices have decreased dramatically. At purple sweet potato centers in Vinh Long and Dong Thap, the price has dropped by 20 times since late April to VND500-600 per kilogram. Le Van Tan, who grows sweet potatoes on 3 hectares in Chau Thanh district in Dong Thap, said farmers have never witnessed such a tragic crop before as the prices have dropped to the deepest low. Tan estimates that with the cultivation cost of VND15-20 million per hectare, he will incur a loss of VND500 million this year. The biggest problem is that if sweet potatoes cannot be sold, all the products will have to be thrown away as they will rot. In the dragon fruit metropolis of Binh Thuan, merchants have not turned up to collect the fruit. The director of a dragon fruit export company said that demand from China has become weaker, which has led to a sharp price fall to VND2,000-3,000. “The output of dragonfruit grown with artificial lighting is not high, but the production cost is high. Binh Thuan farmers have incurred big losses at this price,” he said. Jackfruit prices in Tien Giang, Dong Nai and Dak Lak have also dropped. The sharpest price decrease is seen in Tien Giang, where high-quality jackfruit is sold at VND5,000-10,000 per kilogram only. In Central Highlands, avocado is sold at just VND5,000 per kilogram, red flesh dragon fruit at VND1,500 per kilogram, while mango is VND3,000-5,000. Bien Tan Tai, Deputy Director of Binh Thuan Industry and Trade Department, said the provincial authorities will call on businesses, cooperatives and exporters to buy dragon fruit to store in cold warehouses. The province has asked for help to …

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Steel bars stacked inside Hoà Phát Group's warehouse. Photo hoaphat.com.vn HÀ NỘI — In a recent report, Viet Dragon Securities Corporation (VDSC) said that hot rolled coil (HRC) plays an important role in Hòa Phát Group (HPG)’s business activities as the steel producer is benefiting from higher HRC prices and strong demand from galvanised steel exporters. VDSC forecasts the company’s profit after tax will be about VNĐ10.2 trillion (US$445.4 million) in the second quarter of this year, and fall to VNĐ8.9 trillion (US$388.7 million) in the third quarter. On the Shanghai Futures exchange, the HRC for August delivery was quoted at yuan 5,514 per tonne (US$861.38 per tonne) on Tuesday. VDSC believes that Hoà Phát will not face any difficulties in consuming all output despite the selling price tending to be higher than that of some Chinese factories. This is due to strong demand for HRC from domestic exporters of coated steel sheets. Steel companies are receiving large orders from the EU and North American markets, which have banned China's HRC. To meet the origin requirements of the base steel, domestic manufacturers of coated steel sheets mainly use HRC from HPG, Formosa, or India. Currently, India's HRC supply is weakened due to the pandemic, causing higher export prices. As a result, domestic galvanised steel sheet manufacturers are short of cheap imports to meet the demand from the export market, allowing Hoà Phát to maintain production capacity and high selling prices. VDSC expects Hoà Phát to sell about 690,000 tonnes of HRC (both internal and external) in the third quarter, up about 4 per cent compared to same period last year. However, the gross profit margin of the construction steel segment may decrease due to weak demand and increased production costs. Construction steel sales declined in May to 320,000 tonnes after a surge in March and April. Of which, the proportion of export volume rose from 17 per cent in the first …

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