Vietnam imported nearly 13.6 million tons of steel and iron worth nearly 9.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, down 9.6 percent in volume but up 9 percent in value against 2017, mainly from China, Japan and South Korea, the Vietnam Steel Association said on Monday.

Meanwhile, the country reaped roughly 4.6 billion U.S. dollars from selling 6.3 million tons of steel and iron overseas, up 44.8 percent and 33.5 percent, respectively. Largest importers included the United States, Japan, Cambodia and Thailand.

In 2018, Vietnam imported nearly 2.2 million tons of other common metals such as aluminum, copper and zinc worth more than 7.3 billion U.S. dollars, seeing respective year-on-year surges of 26.7 percent and 24.9 percent.