The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) has reported that steel production and consumption in the first nine months of this year continued to decline, by 5.8 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively, over the same period of 2021. The steel sector is forecast to recover in the fourth quarter of this year, which is when steel demand usually increases as construction projects pick up the pace.

The Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office has released a report on the city’s socio-economic situation in August and the first eight months of 2022. August was the first month this year that the city’s CPI fell, by 0.31 per cent, though it rose compared to August last year and since last December. It fell mainly due to lower fuel prices.

Real estate posted the least effective business results in the second quarter of 2022 of eleven industries, with many listed companies seeing negative market capitalization growth. Total revenue in the second quarter by listed real estate companies was down 58.4 per cent year-on-year while net profits were down 51.3 per cent.

Banking stocks are highly regarded by experts, analysts, and most securities companies thanks to the expectation of solid profit growth in 2022. Yet these stocks have begun to take a downwards turn. According to experts, banking stocks grew quite well in the first half of 2021 but there is no longer any momentum. And most leading banks have run out of foreign ownership space.

The Covid-19 pandemic had a major effect on the number of people going to work abroad. The total in 2021 stood at 45,058, or just 50.06 per cent of the assigned annual plan and 57.29 per cent of the number in 2020.

The proportion of foreign transactions in Vietnam’s stock market has continually fallen sharply and currently stands at just 6 per cent of liquidity, while in late 2017 and early 2018 it was 20 per cent. Total net selling by foreign investors in 2021 was VND62.6 trillion ($2.7 billion).

The number of transactions and the supply of real estate in 2021 reached only 84 per cent of the figures in 2020. The Ministry of Construction (MoC) has set a target for 2022 of construction value increasing 4.96-5.56 per cent with a national urbanization rate of 41.5-42 per cent.

Amid weak credit demand due to prolonged social distancing measures and abundant sources of VND from mature foreign currency contracts, interbank interest rates are forecast to decrease slightly. The balance of payments improved due to stable domestic foreign currency supply and demand and falls in exchange rates.

Seafood export turnover fell 4 per cent in July compared to July last year due to the pandemic. If support solutions are not forthcoming, exports will decline further in the second half of the year.

Vietnam exported 3.03 million tons of rice worth $1.65 billion in the first half of the year, down 14 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively, over the same period last year.