Vietnamese steelmakers’ profits diverge: Hòa Phát doubles, Hoa Sen declines
Vietnam’s steel demand and exports improved in the first nine months of 2026, but major steelmakers reported mixed profits. Hòa Phát’s third-quarter net profit rose 106% year on year. VNSteel’s sharp profit increase was partly driven by a one-time stake sale, while SMC returned to profit and Hoa Sen’s net profit fell amid higher financial costs.
According to the Vietnam Steel Association, member companies’ production and sales of finished steel products rose 16.5% and 19.2%, respectively, year on year in the first eight months of 2026. Construction steel and hot-rolled steel serving domestic demand performed well, while production and sales of coated steel sheets and cold-rolled steel both declined. Member companies’ steel exports in September were about twice the volume recorded a year earlier, helping lift exports in the first nine months by 15% year on year.
Steel market chart provided by the Vietnam Steel Association in October 2026.（VietVance）
Hòa Phát Group reported third-quarter revenue of VND 62.669 trillion, up 70% year on year, and after-tax profit of VND 8.265 trillion, up 106%. After-tax profit for the first nine months reached VND 23.746 trillion, fulfilling 108% of its full-year profit target. Third-quarter crude steel output was 3.7 million tonnes, up 85%, while hot-rolled coil sales exceeded 2 million tonnes, up 64%. Higher production and sales drove earnings growth.
VNSteel’s third-quarter after-tax profit reached VND 1.1629 trillion, up 663.7% year on year. Financial income totaled nearly VND 1.165 trillion, including VND 1.04868 trillion from the sale, completed in July, of its entire stake in Công ty TNHH Khoáng sản và Luyện kim Việt Trung. The company said performance at its subsidiaries also improved; the stake sale contributed substantially to the quarter’s profit increase.
SMC’s third-quarter revenue fell 21% year on year to VND 1.23835 trillion, but it recorded after-tax profit of nearly VND 30 billion, compared with a loss of VND 77.83 billion a year earlier. The company earned VND 75 billion in the first nine months. SMC is discontinuing underperforming steel pipe processing operations and shifting toward trading and coil processing centers, while pursuing sales of certain investments, factories and equipment.
The fourth quarter of Hoa Sen’s 2025–2026 fiscal year corresponds to the third quarter of calendar year 2026. Revenue for the quarter rose 24% year on year to VND 10.384 trillion, but after-tax profit fell 34% to VND 55.6 billion. The company said that, despite higher gross profit, lower financial income and increases in financial costs, borrowing interest, selling expenses and administrative expenses weighed on net profit.
Source: VietVance
