Vietnam: Mills in expansion mode

With the commissioning of the no.4 blast furnace at the Rongju Steel Plant of Hoa Phat Iron and Steel Group in Quang Ngai province and the commissioning of the rebar rolling line of Vietnam American Steel Corporation (VAS) in An Hung Tuong Steel Plant in Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam will increase its annual pig iron capacity by 1 million tonnes and rebar capacity by 500,000 tonnes per annum.

SUNSCO: The first coil of cold rolled steel (CRC) at Maruichi Sun Steel Corporation's (SUNSCO) new cold rolling plant in Binh Duong province rolled out in Jun'21, the production capacity of CRCs in Vietnam increased. The company's new facility can produce 0.1-2mm thick and 700-1250mm wide CRCs to meet the growing demand for thinner gauge CRC.

Driven by climatic conditions in Southeast Asia, the demand for roofing materials is strong, and these CRCs will be mainly supplied to the construction industry. The HyperUC mill at SUNSCO's new cold rolling plant can also produce high-grade non-oriented electrical steel sheets.

Hefa Group: In October 2021, a new wire rod rolling line at Hefa Group's Rongju Steel Plant was put into operation. Danieli is the contractor for the project. It is reported that the production line successfully passed the performance test, and the group signed the final acceptance certificate. This is the plant's third long-rolling line, and in 2020 the group ordered a 1 mtpa mill from Danieli that can produce 5.5-25 mm wire rods.

With the commissioning of the new wire rod rolling line, the Hefa Rongju Steel Plant has also achieved full production. So far, the plant has a crude steel production capacity of about 4 mtpa, 3 mtpa long products and 2 mtpa thin gauge HRC capacity. Moreover, the

Hefa Group is continuing to expand its steel production capacity and is preparing to implement the second phase of the Hefa Rongju Steel Plant, including 5.6 mtpa of flat steel, rebar and wire rod production capacity.

Liconix: This company has ordered two blast furnaces with a capacity of 2.5-2.8 mtpa.

NamKimSteel: This steel maker also intends to increase capacity. According to the company, it plans to expand its capacity to 1.6 mtpa by 2023. The manufacturer intends to focus on the technical elements, aiming to enter the high-end market. The company plans to enter the global high-quality galvanized steel market, mainly to meet the strict requirements of European and American market users for product quality. In addition, the company decided in April 2021 to delay the construction of the 150,000-tpa NamKimChuLai steel pipe plant project due to the risk of shortage of raw materials.

Plans for the commissioning of No. 3 blast furnace at Formosa Plastics Ha Tinh Steel Company (FHS) in Ha Tinh province have not materialised. Earlier, the company revealed plans to start production of a converter and flat-roll hot-rolling plant alongside the blast furnace.