HANOI (AFP) — Malaysia's Lion Industries and Vietnamese shipbuilder Vinashin have started building the country's biggest steel plant, set to cost 9.8 billion dollars, state-run Vinashin said Monday.
The complex will be located on 1,650 hectares (4,000 acres) in central Ninh Thuan province, about 300 kilometres (180 miles) northeast of the business capital Ho Chi Minh City, Vinashin said in a statement.
Once operational in 2011, the complex is set to produce 4.5 million tons of steel a year. At full capacity from 2025, it is scheduled to produce 14.4 million tons, the statement said.
Lion Industries owns a 74 percent stake in the project while Vinashin holds the remainder, Vinashin said in the statement.
This month Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung rejected a proposal by South Korea's Posco Group to build a 5.4-billion-dollar steel mill near resort areas in south-central Nha Trang province, citing environmental concerns.
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