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Domestic demand for steel continue to rise
With the rapid economic growth rate and massive development of infrastructure in Viet Nam , the country’s demand for steel this year will continue to increase by 20 percent over last year, according to the Viet Nam Steel Corporation.
Speaking at a conference held in Ha Noi on January 14 to launch the corporation’s 2008 plan, Nguyen Thanh Truy, Vice General Director of Viet Nam 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, 2.35 million 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 Viet Nam-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 Viet Nam and the Viet Nam 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 Viet Nam Steel Corporation, the Viet Nam 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 Viet Nam Steel Association, in 2007, Viet Nam produced 782,000 tonnes of steel in-got, a 10 percent year-on-year increase, and 2.2 million 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
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