After rising as Southeast Asia’s largest steelmaker this yr, Hoa Phat Group goals to solidify its place by breaking the floor for a $3.7-billion blast furnace plant early subsequent yr.
“Demand for metal stays robust in Vietnam, and we’ve got several religions on this funding,” Nikkei quoted Hoa Phat Chairman Tran Dinh Long as saying concerning the plant to be constructed within the central province of Quang Ngai.
The growth comes as Vietnam accelerates efforts to extend manufacturing of key industrial supplies because the pandemic and geopolitical tensions spotlight the chance of overdependence on the Chinese provide.
The brand new blast furnace will add one other 5.6 million tons to its annual capability, together with 4.6 million tons of hot-rolled coil and a million tons of metal bars and wire rods.
Total, it’s anticipated to broaden annual crude metal capability by 70 % by 2024 to around 14 million tons.
Hoa Phat’s strikes are pushed partly by China curbing metal exports, in keeping with Nikkei.