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| The Ministry of Industry and Trade has allowed three firms to export a total volume of 340,000 tonnes of limonite iron ore which they previously bought from Quý Xa Mine. — Photo vietnamfinance.vn |
Viet Nam News
HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Industry and Trade has given the green light to three firms to export a total volume of 340,000 tonnes of limonite iron ore which they previously bought from Quý Xa Mine of Việt-Trung Metallurgy and Mineral Company Limited in the northern province of Lào Cai.
Accordingly, Minh Đức Mining Joint Stock Company is allowed to export 200,000 tonnes, Lan Anh Construction Company Limited 70,000 tonnes and Hoàng Lan Trading Company Limited 70,000 tonnes.
In December, the three companies proposed the exportation of the iron ore which they bought from Việt-Trung Metallury and Minieral Company Limited in 2018 after they failed to sell the iron ore in the domestic market
The ministry asked the three companies to report on the status of the exports regularly and must give priority to selling the ore in the domestic market in case there was demand. In addition, the ministry asked Lào Cai Province People’s Committee to tighten supervision on the export of these three companies to ensure the export of ore of right types, right origin and right volume.
Limonite is a raw ore which is subject to Việt Nam’s policy of limiting exports. The country only encourages the export of processed ore to earn higher added value.
In December 2017, the ministry also allowed Việt Phát Company to export 200,000 tonnes of iron ore from Quý Xa Mine.
Quý Xa Iron Mine, located in Văn Bàn District’s Sơn Thủy Commune, with a production capacity of three million tonnes per year, was one of two major facilities of Việt-Trung Metallurgy and Mineral Company Limited, besides Lào Cai Iron and Steel Plant.
Quý Xa Mine’s exploitation output was expected to supply Việt Trung Steel Plant, a joint venture between Việt-Trung Metallurgy and Mineral Joint Stock Company and a Chinese partner, which was one in twelve loss-making projects under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The ministry recently proposed to remove Việt Trung Steel Plant from the list of 12 loss-making projects after Việt-Trung Metallurgy and Mineral Joint Stock Company reported profit of VNĐ470 billion (US$420 million) in 2018.
However, the proposal faced disagreements that the profit mainly came from the export of raw ore from Quý Xa Mine while Việt Nam did not encourage the export of raw materials. — VNS
