Vietnam asks Sumitomo, China Steel to relocate planned mill

24/09/2008

Vietnam asked Sumitomo Metal Industries and China Steel Corporation to shift a US$1.15 billion steel project from its planned location in the south of the country, according to a government official.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked the project’s investors to find another location for the mill since Ba Ria-Vung Tau has too many steel projects already,” Phi Dinh Luc, head of project management of the industrial zone authority in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, said by phone Tuesday.

China Steel’s plan to form a venture with Japan’s Sumitomo Metal in southern Vietnam was rejected by the Vietnamese government, the Taipei-based United Daily News reported Tuesday, citing an unidentified China Steel official.

Vietnam’s steel consumption will fall this year after the central bank raised interest rates to slow inflation and the government curbed investment at state-owned companies, according to the Vietnam Steel Association.

The country last year consumed 10.2 million metric tons of steel, the group said last week. About 60 percent of steel is imported.

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