Building steel output in July reached 613,000 tonnes, posting 51.5 percent increase over the same period last year and marking the record high in the past 10 years, said the Vietnam Steel Association. VSA said steel output in the first seven months of the year rose 28 percent from last year level to 3.6 million tonnes, while consumption was 3.5 million tonnes. However, domestic steel producers continue to face the pressures of falling consumption and increased use of imported steel despite improvements in the economy. Accordingly, consumption of building steel last month reached 522,099 tonnes, 1.5 percent less than the previous month's figure, but represented a year-on-year surge of 23 percent. It added that in June, 1.64 million tonnes of steel was imported, posting 26 percent rise in comparison with the previous month and 1,131 percent more than the corresponding period last year. Turnover of imported steel rose to 853 million USD, a 27 percent increase over the previous month and 34 percent from last year. Total imported steel amounted in the first half of the year to 6.9 million tonnes, with turnover of 3.83 billion USD, representing 37 percent and 13 percent increase in quantity and value, respectively. Exported steel in June was 232,264 tonnes, posting a 20 percent year-on-year rise, bringing the total in the first half of the year to 1.2 million tonnes. Nguyen Van Sua, VSA's vice chairman, said prices of materials used in steel production had been on a downward trend, making the local steel price plunge sharply. Sua said the steel sector would face difficulties due to the abundant supply of cheap imported steel.-VNA