Steel that meets standards is difficult to sell.

Businesses producing reinforcing steel for concrete that have complied with National Technical Standard 7 (National Technical Standard on reinforcing steel for concrete) are complaining about low sales, while products that have not complied with Standard 7 are selling better.

Tighten quality control of construction steel.

Before the application of Standard 7 in the production of reinforcing steel for concrete, steel manufacturers typically self-declared the standards they applied. This meant that each company chose its own standard for production, and they could even develop their own set of standards and register them. For example, one company might produce according to TCVN 1651/1985 or 2008, while another might produce according to TCVN 1651/2008… Naturally, when different standards are applied, the construction steel products released to the market all have different quality and weight.

However, competition in the steel industry is currently fierce, even facing challenges from steel of unknown origin, or steel imported from China containing boron mixed into low-quality construction steel, affecting construction projects. Therefore, to protect domestic production, safeguard consumer rights, and eliminate small, fragmented, and fraudulent businesses, the Ministry of Science and Technology, specifically the General Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality, has drafted and issued Regulation 7 to compel businesses producing reinforcing steel for concrete to supply the market with steel that meets standards. Regulation 7 has been in effect since January 1, 2014.

The application of Standard 7 is inconsistent: many shortcomings exist.

However, after a short period of implementation, some steel manufacturers who adopted Standard 7 argued that its application was "more harmful than beneficial." Products complying with the standard were difficult to sell and remained unsold. The reason is that applying Standard 7 requires adherence to technical requirements, dimensions, weight per meter length; steel grade and mechanical properties according to TC1601-2008; even labeling must be clear, without erasure, and must include complete information, name and address of the manufacturing facility, product name, standard number published by the manufacturer, conformity mark, steel grade, weight of the steel bundle or coil, production date, etc.

To comply with this standard, businesses are required to change their equipment to produce reinforced concrete steel according to the standard, increasing the cost per product by approximately 3 to 5%. Therefore, the cost of steel complying with Standard 7 is higher than that of steel not complying with the standard, making it more difficult to sell.

Substandard steel needs to be eliminated.

While it's unclear which products comply with and which don't, and both are available on the market, consumers find it difficult to distinguish between them. Typically, if two steel products have the same name, buyers tend to choose the cheaper option. However, discerning consumers will choose steel products that meet quality standards and are safe for construction. Nevertheless, it will take time for consumers to learn how to differentiate between steel products that comply with quality standards.

According to manufacturers' experience, for every 100 kg of steel produced according to Standard 7 (with "positive" rolling), only 100 steel bars are produced. However, if the same 100 kg of steel is produced with "negative" rolling as before Standard 7 was implemented, the number of steel bars is higher, up to 120 bars, resulting in a surplus of 20 bars – this benefits businesses, as they usually buy by weight and sell by the bar for a higher profit. But because of this, steel produced according to Standard 7 will be less in demand.

Many steel companies have suggested that, to ensure fairness among steel producers and protect consumer rights, regulatory agencies should strictly control the application of Standard 7, imposing heavy penalties to avoid a situation where regulations are only enforced half-heartedly. At the same time, the time for steel that does not comply with Standard 7 to circulate in the market should be shortened. Quickly eliminating steel that does not comply with Standard 7 will bring fairness to all manufacturers.

According to Baocongthuong.