HANOI, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam spent over 8.3 billion U.S. dollars importing nearly 11.4 million tons of steel and iron in the first 10 months of this year, down 10.5 percent in volume but up 10.6 percent in value against the same period last year, the Vietnam Steel Association said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Vietnam imported nearly 1.9 million tons of other common metals such as aluminum, copper and zinc worth more than 6.2 billion U.S. dollars, seeing respective year-on-year surges of 31.7 percent and 29.9 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.