First product comes out of SEA’s biggest steel factory

Since 2011, the Vinashin Business Group’s steel demand will be fed by itself, partly thanks to the coming into operation of the Cái Lân Steel Factory

The factory is the biggest steel project in Southeast Asia, totally funded and managed by the Group, said Vinashin CEO Phạm Thanh Bình.

Covering an area of 15 hectares in the northern province of Quảng Ninh, the VND 2,900-billion factory has an annual design capacity of 500,000 tons and can be upgraded to 1 million tons.

Its international-standard products include steel sheets, 5-50mm in thickness, 1.6-3m in width, and 6-18m in length, used in building ships of up-to-300,000-ton loading capacity.

Earlier, Việt Nam has to import large-sized steel sheets for its emerging ship-building industry. Thus, the new factory would help reduce dependence on foreign steel supplies and cut down business costs at around US $100-150/ton (at current price).

Since 2011, Vinashin’s total steel productivity will be some 4 million tons/year, fully meeting its steel demand.

The group’s clients may include investors from the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Japan and Italy.

By Hải Minh