[Vnbiz] Vietnam: Domestic demand for steel continue to rise

[Tai Phan]

Vietnam: Domestic demand for steel continue to rise

01/16/2008 10:13:06 AM EST
THAI PRESS REPORTS

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Section: Regional News - With the rapid economic growth rate and massive
development of infrastructure in Vietnam , the country's demand for steel
this year will continue to increase by 20 percent over last year, according
to the Vietnam Steel Corporation.

Speaking at a conference held in Hanoi on January 14 to launch the
corporation's 2008 plan, Nguyen Thanh Truy, Vice General Director of Vietnam
Steel Corporation, said that to meet the local demand, the steel sector will
speed up investment projects on steel in-got and steel rolling production to
raise the output of steel in-got to 900,000 tonnes and rolled steel,
2.35million tonnes.

The sector will also accelerate the expansion of existing still mills, such
as the 2 nd phase of the Thai Nguyen Steel Company, the Vietnam-China
mineral and metallurgical joint venture, and the expansion of the Ha Tinh
mill factory. The corporation is preparing to carry out its plan on
comprehensive cooperation with Tata group of India , the Bank for Industry
and Commerce of Vietnam and the Vietnam Maritime Corporation with the aim of
expanding production and improving product quality.

This year, the sector plans to kick-start a number of major projects,
including a hot rolled steel mill, a joint venture between the Vietnam Steel
Corporation, the Vietnam Rubber Corporation and the Essar Group of India,
with capacity of 2 million tonnes a year and investment capital of 527
million USD, in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province; and the cold rolled steel
factory by the Thong Nhat Joint Stock Steel Company.

The steel corporation has suggested the Government infrastructure for steel
production project, facilitate imports of scrap to supply materials for
domestic production of steel in-got, and implement a proper tax policy and
technical barriers, so that they will not cause losses to the steel sector.

According to the Vietnam Steel Association, in 2007, Vietnam produced
782,000 tonnes of steel in-got, a 10 percent year-on-year increase,
and 2.2million tonnes of rolled steel, an over 14 percent increase.
Meanwhile the
domestic steel consumption was 10.3 million tonnes, a 42 percent increase
over last year and the highest level in Southeast Asia .

Experts said that in the 2006-2010 period, domestic steel producers will be
able to meet the local demand for normal rolled steel and look towards the
target of producing 6.1 million tonnes by 2010 and 10 million tonnes by
2015.

The steel sector has worked out a long-term plan to invest in construction
of mining and metallurgical complexes, and produce high quality steel for
the manufacture of machinery, shipbuilding, automobiles and the defence
industry. - VNA


Copyright (c) 2008 Thai News Service, Source: The Financial Times Limited
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