By Paul Ploumis 17 Jun 2015 Last updated at 03:34:00 GMT

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The latest trade statistics released by Customs Department shows that Vietnam’s steel imports dropped 9.1% over the previous year to total 1.295 million mt during May this year. The steel imports during the month valued at $672 million, falling significantly by 26% over the year.

The largest exporter of steel to Vietnam during May this year was China. Vietnam imported 745,082 mt of steel from China, accounting for nearly 58% of the total imports by Vietnam during the month. The imports from China dropped almost 14% when compared with May 2014. The second largest exporter of steel to Vietnam was Japan with 239,017 mt. The exports from that country dropped almost 8% over the previous year. The Vietnamese steel imports from South Korea totaled 152,175 mt, rising significantly by nearly 25% year-on-year.

The cumulative steel imports by Vietnam during the initial five-month period of the year totaled 5.273 million mt, up 17.5% over the previous year. The value of imports during this period amounted to $2.97 billion, dropping marginally by 0.4% over the five-month period from January to May in 2014. The country’s major import sources during this period were China (3.046 million mt, +41.9%), Japan (967,024 mt, -0.1%) and South Korea (672,715 mt, +24.8%).

Meantime, Vietnam’s steel product exports totaled 202,907 mt in May this year. The total value of exports amounted to $142 million. The exports were down 2.2% over the previous year, whereas the export values dropped by 12.3%. The cumulative exports during January to May this year totaled 981,241 mt, valued at $718 million. The largest export destination for Vietnamese steel products during Jan-May ’15 were Cambodia (300,973 mt), Indonesia (202,811 mt) and Thailand (107,426 mt).