Japanese steel corporation to invest 220 mln USD in Vietnam

Hanoi, July 31 (VNA) - JFE Steel, Japan's second-biggest steelmaker, has announced it will invest 27 billion JPY (220 million USD) in a steelwork plant being constructed by the Formosa Plastics Group (China) in the central province of Ha Tinh. Speaking in a press conference in Tokyo, Shinichi Okada, Executive Vice President of the JFE Holdings Inc – JFE Steel's parent, said that the investment is part of the corporation’s mid- to long-term growth strategy given Japan’s local demand is shrinking. JFE plans to purchase 5 percent stake in the plant's operating company, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS), which is investing 10.5 billion USD in the first phase to build a rolling and metallurgy workshops in Ha Tinh. Operations, with an initial capacity of 7 million tonnes of crude steel a year, are set to begin this autumn. JFE will provide technical support and sell some of the products made at the plant through its customers in Southeast Asia./.