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Formosa renews pledge on petrochemical project in Ha Tinh
Taiwan’s largest industrial group Formosa has renewed its commitment to develop a petrochemical and oil refinery project in Vung Ang Economic Zone in the central province of Ha Tinh, which has earlier won approval in principle from the Government, a local official said.
Duong Duc Thanh, Deputy Director of Vung Ang Zone Management Authority, said on the phone on Wednesday that Formosa representatives met with local authorities on Monday to discuss development of the US$12.4-billion project. Thanh said the complex has a designed capacity of 300,000 barrels a day and 14 million tons of products a year.
At the meeting, a representative of Formosa said that the project would create direct jobs for 4,000 locals and 5,000 indirect workers, Thanh said.
Formosa also proposed to build a thermo power plant to generate electricity for demand at the complex. The foreign investor pledged that after seven years upon obtaining the investment certificate, the project will be operational, Thanh said.
He said that the approval in principle had been given to the Taiwanese group after the proposal had been passed to the Government by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ha Tinh province.
Formosa Group’s proposed oil refinery will be located near Formosa Heavy Industries Corp’s US$7.9 billion steel project under way at the same zone. The total area for the petrochemical and oil refinery project is nearly 1,600 hectares.
At the meeting, leaders of the province said that the local government totally supported Formosa’s investment proposal but this will rely on the central Government’s final say.
Thanh said the investor would likely finished procedures this year.
If approved, the Formosa oil refinery will be the country’s fourth after Dung Quat in the central province of Quang Ngai with investment capital of US$2.5 billion, Nghi Son in the northern province of Thanh Hoa (US$6.2 billion), Vung Ro in the central province of Phu Yen (US$1.7 billion), and Can Tho in the Mekong Delta (some US$540 million).
A sixth oil refinery as part of a US$10-billion petrochemical complex is in the offing on Long Son Island in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
Dung Quat, the country’s first oil refinery, has started production this year. This refinery is developed by a consortium comprising Technip-Coflexip of France, Japan’s JGC Corp and Spain’s Technicas Reunidas. The project is able to refine 6.5 million tons of low-sulfur crude oil a year.
Nghi Son Refinery & Petrochemical Limited Liability Company is 25.1% owned by PetroVietnam, 35.1% by Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co., 35.1 % by Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) and the rest by Japan’s Mitsui Chemical, Inc. The joint venture said the refinery’s first stage would be ready by 2013, with an initial refining capacity of 10 million tons a year, which could eventually double to 20 million tons down the road. The refinery will run on 100% crude oil supplied by Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation.
Formosa is the largest foreign investor in Vietnam. It has built a string of factories in Dong Nai province since it got the first license in late 2001.
Thanh said that Formosa would deploy its steel complex project in Ha Tinh soon after the company received cleared land from the province. The investor committed to pay at one time the land rent for the steel project.
The steel complex to be developed in two phases is designed with a total production capacity of 15 million tons per year. The 7.5-million-ton first phase will be developed in three years.
Son Duong port as part of Formosa Heavy Industries Corp’s complex will be able to receive vessels of up to 200,000DWT, with an expected annual throughput of 30 million tons of goods.
vietnamnet, sgt
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