Construction steel prices continue to increase, fertilizer prices hit rock bottom

* Construction steel prices continue to increase

Construction steel priceDomestic steel prices have just been adjusted up. Accordingly, D10 CB300 rebar increased by 150,000-160,000 VND/ton, CB240 rolled steel increased by 100,000-150,000 VND/ton.

According to Steel Online, compared to the adjustment at the end of February, the price of D10 CB300 rebar of Hoa Phat steel brand in the North and South increased by VND150,000/ton, respectively to VND15.99 million/ton and VND16.03 million/ton. Meanwhile, in the Central region, Hoa Phat steel increased by VND160,000/ton for D10 CB300 rebar to VND15.89 million/ton.

Steel prices continue to rise despite sharp decline in demand. Photo: Viet Phuong

Thus, from the beginning of 2023 until now, the price of CB240 coil steel has had 6 consecutive upward adjustments, the price of D10 CB300 ribbed steel bar has had 5 upward adjustments, depending on the brand.

According to the Vietnam Steel Association, domestic construction steel prices have been continuously increasing recently, mainly due to the fact that the import prices of raw materials for steel production such as coal, iron ore, scrap steel, hot rolled coils, etc. have not shown any signs of decreasing.

The high price of raw materials has forced domestic steel factories to increase their selling prices many times to compensate for production costs and reduce losses. Steel prices will continue to increase in the coming time due to the tight supply of iron ore while demand tends to increase.

In contrast to domestic steel prices, steel prices in the international market today fell sharply. The world steel futures price for October 2023 delivery on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on the morning of March 22 fell 39 yuan to 4,119 yuan/ton.

* Domestic pig prices are stable

According to the Vietnam Commodity Exchange, the domestic livestock industry is entering a new phase after more than 2 years since the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to high prices of imported raw materials. Concerns about the world's agricultural supply are gradually being resolved, opening up long-term prospects for businesses with cost pressure no longer being the top burden.

However, China's sudden resumption of imports in recent times is one of the factors that needs attention, as this was also the reason for the sharp increase in agricultural prices in early 2021.

Pig farm in Kim Lien commune (Nam Dan). Photo: Phu Huong

Recorded this morning, in the domestic market, with the price of input materials for the animal feed industry cooling down, the price of live pigs continued to move sideways in the range of 48,000 - 52,000 VND/kg.

* Fertilizer prices hit bottom 2 years ago

These past days,fertilizer priceon the market continued to decrease sharply. Accordingly, the price of Phu My NPK fertilizer was traded at 15,100-15,700 VND (down 1,800 VND/kg compared to the beginning of the year), Ca Mau NPK was 15,100-15,700 VND/kg (down 1,600 VND/kg). The corresponding decrease was about 10%.

Ca Mau Potassium Fertilizer also decreased by 2,600 VND/kg to 14,900-15,100 VND/kg (down about 15% compared to the beginning of the year), Dinh Vu DAP decreased to 16,700-17,500 VND/kg (down 63%).

Currently, the price of many types of fertilizers, especially nitrogen fertilizer (Urea), has decreased by 10,000-30,000 VND/bag (50 kg). The price of Ca Mau fertilizer, Phu My fertilizer and many types of Urea imported from China, Indonesia and Malaysia are being sold at agricultural supply stores in the Mekong Delta for only 500,000-550,000 VND/bag, while previously the price was 530,000-580,000 VND/bag.

At the current price, Urea is at its lowest level in over 2 years. In the first months of the year, Urea is currently the type of fertilizer that businesses in our country have been self-sufficient in producing domestically and have surplus for export. The prices of DAP, NPK and Potassium have decreased but are still at a high level, with many types of DAP priced from 850,000-1,400,000 VND/bag, NPK 20-20-15 priced from 900,000-1,100,000 VND/bag, Potassium priced at 730,000-800,000 VND/bag...

Prices of many types of fertilizers are likely to decrease further due to abundant supply and sharp declines in world fertilizer prices./.