Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on September 4 issued Decision No. 145/2007/QD-TTg to approve the Vietnamese steel industry development plan for 2007-2015, and spanning to 2025. Accordingly, the steel industry will export 500,000 tonnes of steel in 2010.
Production and export
According to the forecast of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the demand for finished steel in Vietnam will be 11-12 million tonnes in 2010, 15-16 million tonnes in 2015 and 24-25 million tonnes in 2025.
The plan stressed that the overall goals of the Vietnamese steel industry are to meet demand for steel in the home market and export to other countries. The industry will manufacture 1.5-1.9 million tonnes of cast iron in 2010, 5.0-5.8 million tonnes in 2015 and 10-12 million tonnes in 2025. Regarding steel ingot, steelmakers will produce 3.5-4.5 million tonnes in 2010, 6-8 million tonnes in 2015 and 12-15 million tonnes in 2025.
Especially, the output of finished steel products will reach 6.3-6.5 million tonnes in 2010, 11-12 million tonnes in 2015 and 19-22 million tonnes in 2025, including 11-13 million tonnes of flat steel and 200,000 tonnes of special steel.
Apart from satisfying domestic demand, the plan also ambitiously says that Vietnam will export steel products. However, the expected export volume was modest, 500,000-700,000 tonnes of cast iron and steel of different kinds by 2010. The export volume is expected to be 1.2-1.5 million tonnes by 2025.
Big projects
To fulfil the goals, the strategy emphasises six big projects in the 2007-2015 period. The six giant steel projects include the Ha Tinh steel complex (expected capacity of 4.5 million tonnes per year, scheduled for operation in 2011); Dung Quat steel complex (5 million tonnes per year, the second phase of the project to begin in 2011); South Korea’s Posco-invested hot and cold rolled and galvanised steel mill (3 million tonnes per year); the plate rolled steel mill invested in by India’s ESSA and several Vietnamese firms; the project to expand Thai Nguyen cast iron and steel mill; and the Lao Cai steel complex.
Besides, Vietnam will also pay appropriate attention to developing medium and small-scale cast iron blast furnaces in northern mountainous areas, including Lao Cai, Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Yen Bai and Bac Kan provinces, with total capacity of 1 million tonnes a year
In 2016-2025, the industry will focus on manufacturing steel from directly reverted products to the capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of flat steel ingot or 1.5 million tonnes of hot rolled steel. It will study the development of several shaped steel plants with expected annual output of one million tonnes and build special steel mills for military purposes, with an annual output of 300,000-500,000 tonnes.
Under the plan, Vietnam will need US$10-12 billion from 2007-2025 for investment in steel mills, of which US$8 billion will be used in 2007-2015. To mobilise such a huge investment capital, Vietnam will have to diversify capital sources, flexibly use loans and push up the equitisation process in steel firms.
Apart from the capital solution, the plan also mentions eight groups of core solutions for steel industry development, including cooperation in investment and development of material sources, human resources, investment in science and technologies, and environmental protection.
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