At present, the Vietnamese economy is in a stable developmentstage. Many real estate projects and transportation infrastructure projects areunder construction, and the Vietnamese steel industry is showing good growth.In the second half of 2018, this situation will continue and Vietnam's steeloutput is expected to increase by 20% year-on-year.

    In the first half of 2018, Vietnam's crude steel and steelproduction increased by 43.7% and 16% respectively.

    As of the end of May 2018, Vietnam's total steel exports were2.36 million tons, and its total exports reached 1.76 billion US dollars.Exports and exports increased by 41.9% and 57.8% respectively. The main exportmarkets of Vietnam's steel products are ASEAN countries, of which exports toCambodia are 491,000 tons, up 48.4% year-on-year; exports to Indonesia are301,000 tons, up 25.4% year-on-year; exports to Malaysia are 292,000 tons, up99% year-on-year. In addition, Vietnam's steel exports to the United Stateswere 368,000 tons, an increase of 104%; exports to the EU were 286,000 tons, anincrease of 146%.

    In addition, according to the plan, some projects in Vietnamwill be put into operation this year. For example, Vietnam Hefa Group willstart production of a 600,000-ton capacity rolling steel production line inAugust.