Vietnam spent more than four billion U.S. dollars importing roughly 6.8 million tons of steel and iron in the first six months of this year, down 16.3 percent in value and 5.4 percent in volume against the same period last year.

The major market supplying steel and iron to Vietnam in the six-month period included China, Japan and South Korea, according to the Vietnam Steel Association on Tuesday.

In June alone, the country imported nearly 1.3 million tons of the products worth 670 million U.S. dollars, up 20.4 percent in volume and down 6.9 percent in value on-year, according to the association.

In 2019, Vietnam poured nearly 9.5 billion U.S. dollars into importing roughly 14.6 million tons of steel and iron, up 7.6 percent in volume but down 4.2 percent in value against 2018, according to its General Statistics Office.

Meanwhile, the country reaped approximately 4.2 billion U.S. dollars from exporting almost 6.6 million tons of the products, seeing an increase of 5.4 percent in volume and decrease of 8.5 percent in value, said the office.