NINH THUẬN – Hoa Sen Group will build a steel plant with a capacity of 16 million tonnes a year in the south-central province of Ninh Thuận at a cost of US$10.6 billion.

Construction will be done in five stages between 2017 and 2031.

The steel giant said the first stage would be built in 2017-18 on an area of 240ha, begin operation in 2019 and produce 1.5 million tonnes of steel a year.

Simultaneously, infrastructure will be developed for the Hoa Sen Cà Ná Industrial Zone and the Hoa Sen Cà Ná port will be built.

The company revealed that in the future many other facilities would be built to recycle waste from the steel plant, including a cement company.

Five companies have been set up to carry out the projects -- the Hoa Sen Cà Ná Zone Infrastructure Development One-member Joint Stock Company, the Hoa Sen Cà Ná – Ninh Thuận Steel-making Complex Investment One-member Joint Stock Company, the Hoa Sen Cà Ná – Ninh Thuận Port One-member Joint Stock Company, and the Hoa Sen Cà Ná – Ninh Thuận Cement One-member Joint Stock Company.

When completed, the complex is expected to create 45,000 jobs and boost the local economy by attracting restaurants, hotels, transport services and others.

The construction of the Hoa Sen Cà Ná steel plant is highly welcome since the country faces a chronic steel deficit and demand for steel is increasing.

The company’s chairman, Lê Phước Vũ, has promised to use modern, eco-friendly technologies for the plant.

The company would invested in waste treatment systems, he said, adding that technologies would also be used to recycle waste from the complex.

Hoa Sen is a leading steel maker not just in Việt Nam but in the Southeast Asian region. In Việt Nam, it has a 40 per cent share of the sheet steel market and 20 per cent of the steel pipe market.

The 15-year-old company exports its products to 65 countries and territories. VNS