China Steel Mulling US$1.15 Bln Steel Mill in Vietnam
China Steel, the Taiwan's biggest steel maker, said it will form a joint venture with Japan's Sumitomo Metal Industries group to build a US$1.15 billion steel mill in the suburb of Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam, state media reported Friday.
The Taiwanese group will contribute US$293 million to the joint venture and expected to kick off construction of the facility in June 2008 and start production from 2011 with annual capacity of 1.7 million tons of steel sheets, said Vietnam News Agency.
''Steel demand in Vietnam will grow significantly,'' Sumitomo Metal Industries Vice President Shozo Nishizawa said today at a news briefing in Tokyo.
Vietnam is seen as ideal destination for heavy industrial producers thanks to the country's variety investment incentives and abundant of natural resources including 8 billion tons of bauxite and 940 million tons of iron ore.
The country is estimated to consume 10 million tons of steel a year by 2010, 16 million tons by 2015 and 20 million tons by 2020, with domestic production making up 61 per cent, 62 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively. (VNA)
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