Formosa Plastics partners with China Steel in Vietnam

Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), Taiwan\'s leading manufacturer of plastic products and China Steel Corp. (CSC), Taiwan`s leading manufacturer of steel products, will team in Vietnam to tap the Asian steel market.

In the wake of FPG\'s investment in CSC`s cold-rolled-steel plant in Vietnam, CSC is considering investment in FPG`s large steel mill there, with such reciprocal investments to help both firms to consolidate the supply chain of steel products in Vietnam.

FPG said it has been approved to set up a large steel mill in Ha Tinh province of Vietnam with annual output of 30 million metric tons of upstream steel products. CSC`s cold-rolled-steel plant is designed to have an annual production capacity of 1.6 million metric tons.

In the foreseeable future, CSC`s cold-rolled-steel plant will use hot-rolled steel coils produced by FPG in Vietnam, with the latter`s steel products will be processed at CSC`s facility.

L.M. Chung, executive vice president of CSC, noted his company is positioned as a large steel mill in East Asia or the coastal area of Southeast Asia, backed by gradual investments in Japan, China, Kaohsiung of Taiwan, Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam and Malaysia.

CSC said its cold-rolled-steel plant in Vietnam will mainly source raw materials as hot-rolled steel coils from its parent in Taiwan and its affiliate Dragon Steel, but will purchase such products from FPG\'s large steel mill in Vietnam in case of a supply gap due to geographical proximity.