China’s Mintal Group says it hopes to build a ferrochrome and stainless steel plant in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province. The project could face resistance from the local industry however and would have to import most of its raw materials, Kallanish notes.

The proposal is to build a 1.5 million tonnes/year ferrochrome smelter as the initial phase, followed by a 1m t/y stainless steelworks at a later date. The plant would be located at the Nghi Son Economic Zone.

The proposal is still being reviewed by local authorities. The Vietnam Steel Association has lobbied in the past against foreign stainless steel investments in the country. Local producer Hoa Phat meanwhile has suggested that it may build a stainless steelworks at its new Dung Quat plant with a potential capacity of 1m t/y.

Local industry sources however note that Vietnam would have to import almost all of its raw materials for stainless steel. The stainless steel sector has been shaken up in recent years by investments in low cost stainless semi-finished capacity in Indonesia, and more investment in the country is being carried out. Mintal itself says its project would have to import around 80% of its raw materials, mainly from South Africa where it has chrome resources.

Mintal also has stainless steel capacity in China, where is has a joint venture with Baotou Iron and Steel and Goldman Sachs.