HANOI, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam spent roughly 6.7 billion U.S. dollars importing nearly 9.3 million tons of steel and iron in the first eight months of this year, down 11 percent in volume but up 10.2 percent in value against the same period last year, the Vietnam Steel Association said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Vietnam imported over 1.6 million tons of other common metals such as aluminum, copper and zinc worth nearly 5.3 billion U.S. dollars, seeing respective year-on-year surges of 34.7 percent and 35.9 percent.

Vietnam spent over 9 billion U.S. dollars importing roughly 15 million tons of steel and iron last year, with China being the biggest import market with nearly 7 million tons of the products totaling 4.1 billion U.S. dollars, followed by Japan and South Korea, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.