Nippon Steel buys into steel venture
A source from the Ba Ria – Vung Tau Industrial Zone Authority (BIZA) told that Posco had informed BIZA of the transfer of the 15% stake to the Japanese firm. Procedures for the transfer have been finalized and registered with the authorities.
The international media earlier reported that Posco announced last October that Nippon Steel, the world’s number two steelmaker, would buy a stake of 10% to 20% in the steel project in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau.
Posco received an investment certificate in late 2006 for its steel project worth USD 1.13 billion in Phu My II Industrial Park in Tan Thanh District, some 80km southern of HCMC. The project will cover 130 hectares and produce hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel.
Work on the project stared in August 2007 with the first phase requiring a total of USD 361 million. The facility is expected to be operational in late 2009 with annual output of 7000,000 tons of cold-rolled steel.
Posco, which entered Vietnam in 1992 with three joint venture including a steel project, plans to produce three million tons of hot-rolled steel and 1.5 million tons of cold-rolled products, which will be supplied to both the local market and other Southeast Asian markets.
