$4 bln steel complex breaks ground in Nam Dinh province

The Xuan Thien Group began construction of a VND900 billion ($36.34 million) prefabricated concrete factory in Nam Dinh province Monday, the first part of a VND98,900 billion ($4 billion) green steel complex.

The 56.8-hectare factory, named Xuan Thien Nam Dinh and located in Nghia Hung district, will have an annual capacity of 350,000 tons. Construction is set to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024 and operations to begin in the first quarter of 2025.

Factory products will be used to build the steel complex, a deep-water seaport, a river port and other component projects as well as for markets inside and outside the northern province, said Nguyen Huy Hoang, general director of the group.

The two other parts of the steel complex are the 83.93-hectare, VND10,000 billion ($403.7 million) Xuan Thien Nghia Hung steel factory with an annual capacity of two million tons; and the 248.97-hectare, VND88,000 billion Xuan Thien Nam Dinh No. 1 steel factory with an annual capacity of 7.5 million tons.

Under the provincial decision approving the projects in 2021, the Xuan Thien Nghia Hung factory is set to be complete in 36 months after the site is handed over. The Xuan Thien Nam Dinh No. 1 steel factory will be built in three phases of 36 months, 48 months and 60 months, respectively.

According to the Ministry of Construction, cement sales in Vietnam reached 7.6 million tons in September, down 15% year-on-year, totaling 72.93 million tons in the first nine months of this year, down 10%.

The department attributed the fall to a slowdown in the Chinese market amid the Covid-19 lockdown. China accounts for about 50% of Vietnam's cement exports. This pushed cement exports down by 28% to 23.97 million tons, while domestic sales increased 5% year-on-year to 48.96 million tons.

The steel market in the country is also facing many problems due a fall in global prices, according to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA).

The nation’s steel output reached 2.05 million tons in October, down 28.7% year-on-year, resulting in a January-October output of 24.31 million tons, down 8.7%.

Meanwhile, the country earned $6.5 billion from exporting 6.46 million tons of steel in the first nine months of this year, down 22.65% and 34.38% year-on-year, respectively, the VSA said.