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Semi-processed titanium plant opened in Binh Dinh
The country’s largest semi-processed titanium factory was opened on Friday in the central province of Binh Dinh, which the investor said would bring much income for the country which so far has largely shipped the raw ore.
The advanced titanium slag production plant in Vietnam was inaugurated after 18 months of construction by Saigon-Quy Nhon Mining Corporation, a subsidiary of Saigon Invest Group. The investor has spent VND500 billion on the first phase of the project, whose total cost will amount to a total VND1 trillion, said Dang Thanh Tam, chairman of Saigon Invest Group.
“Its purpose is to process titanium into highly valuable product, helping limit the export of raw ore,” he told the opening ceremony.
He said the product processed at his factory would generate a value 20 to 30 times higher than the raw titanium ore, currently exported to China by a lot of local companies at a price at some US$50 per ton.
This project is considered the largest one conducted by Saigon-Quy Nhon Mining Corporation with an initial capacity of 24,000 tons of titanium plus 12,000 tons of high-intensity steel per year. In phase 2, there will be three more furnaces, raising the total production volume to 36,000 tons of titanium and 18,000 tons of high-intensity steel per year, he said.
The raw materials will be tapped in Binh Dinh and several neighboring provinces, including Quang Ngai, Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan, as well as bought from other companies, Tam said.
All of the products will be exported to China, Japan and Europe, Nguyen Tran Trieu Thanh, general director of Saigon-Quy Nhon Mining Corp, said.
Titanium slag is used for the mechanical, electronic, automobile, aeronautics and metallurgy industries, and as Vietnam has not yet developed these sectors, the products will be shipped abroad, Thanh said.
“We always treasure environment protection in processing and business of the plant,” she said, adding that “we earmarked some 30% of capital of the plant for environment treatment technologies.”
The plant will give some 500 jobs and contribute hundreds of billions of Vietnam for to the State budget per year, Thanh said.
Previously, in early 2007, the Ministry of Industry and Trade submitted to the Government a master plan to develop the titanium industry in 2007-2015 with a vision to 2025, which was approved by the Prime Minister in July 2007.
Under this plan, Vietnam’s titanium ore deposits are estimated at around 34.5 million tons. The Government permits the exploration and exploitation of titanium ore across a large swathe from north-central provinces to Ba Ria-Vung Tau in the south.
Under the Government’s plan, the titanium processing industry in the next few years should contribute remarkably to the GDP structure of Vietnam’s processing industry.
VietNamNet, SGT
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