Vietnam's  imports  of  Chinese  steel  rose  sharply  in value over the January-February period, 

according to Vietnam's General Department of Customs. 

China  remained  Vietnam's largest steel supplier with a total of 1.53 million tons exported in the 

period, worth  786 million U.S. dollars, up 7.6 percent in volume and 61.8 percent in value year-

on-year, reported local Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper on Monday. 

South  Korea  rank  second  with  some  304,000  tons  of  steel  exported  to  Vietnam between 

January-February, worth  202 million U.S. dollars, rising 18 percent in volume and 57 percent in 

value year-on-year. 

In the first two months of 2017, Vietnam spent a total of 1.49 billion U.S. dollars on importing 2.7

4 million  tons  of  steel, up  0.2  percent  in  volume and 49.3 percent in value against the same 

period last year, said the department. 

In  2016, Vietnam  imported  some 18.4 million  tons  of  steel, worth  8.02 billion U.S. dollars, of 

which imports from China accounted for 10.9 million tons, worth over 4.5 billion U.S. dollars.