Hoa Phat Group became Australia's largest trading partner in Vietnam in 2020. The firm’s import of iron ore and coal from Australia surged amid its production capacity increase and China's restrictions on Australian coal imports, Kallanish notes.

Hoa Phat’s 2020 imports of machines, equipment, and materials for production reportedly hit nearly $2 billion, of which 35% or $700 million was from Australia. Statistics from Global Trade Atlas showed that Australia's exports to Vietnam reached $4.4 billion in 2020, 16% of which was imported by Hoa Phat Group. The Vietnamese firm’s total import value from Australia increased by 1.2 and two times in 2019 and 2020, respectively, to $325m and $705m.

More than half of the total value of Australia-origin imports in 2020 – about $364m – was coal, compared to only $115m in 2019. In the first 11 months of 2020, the group's iron ore purchases soared 19 times on-year, reaching $123m.

Last year, Hoa Phat Group's revenue reached over $1 billion, including 26% from exports. Asian countries' buying contributed 90% of the group's export value. Among them, the export of construction steel and high-quality steel was $966m, accounting for 95.2% of the total export value. The rest came from other products such as steel pipe and colour-coated galvanized steel sheet.

In 2021, Hoa Phat plans to import $1.44 billion worth of commodities from Australia, over double the 2020 figure. The imports will include around 4 million tonnes of iron ore and 3.5mt of coal.