Major steel project halted due to “unresolved issues”
Major steel project halted due to “unresolved issues”
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has requested the suspension of the $10.6-billion Ca Na steel project in the southern province of Ninh Thuan in order to “clarify some issues related to the environment and technology.”
This is the conclusion on the Ca Na steel project that the Prime Minister made at the regular government meeting at the beginning of March 2016, and was recently announced by the Government Office.
The Prime Minister said that it is good that Ninh Thuan and the Ministry of Industry and Trade wanted to grow the province economically, but this project has only seen rudimentary evaluation and the preparations for it have been proceeding too fast. In addition, the Prime Minister added concerns that the information on the project is not comprehensive, leaving a sore need for clarification before the project can go ahead.
Specifically, the parties have to calculate the domestic demand for steel and specific types of products, and then review the country’s master plan on steel development and figure out the appropriate capacity and the timeline for the project.
The investor and government agencies also have to evaluate the environmental impact and review the technology to make sure the project is safe and will not repeat the Formosa incident. The project also has to review the total amount of capital needed, including the deep water port, the railway, and the road that are part of the project, and state clearly where the material to build the project would come from.
“This steel project was proposed after the Formosa incident so it is a sensitive topic. As early as during the stage of proposal the investor and the government agencies have to be clear on these issues,” the document said.
It said that after a careful review to clarify these issues, Ninh Thuan and government agencies can propose the project again for approval.
The Prime Minister said that calling a halt to the nuclear energy project earlier in November 2016 had an effect on the socioeconomic development of the province, so it is necessary to attract more plants. However, Ninh Thuan has many advantages in renewable energy, tourism, organic agriculture, not only nuclear energy and steel.
Meanwhile, on April 4, the working group from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) complemented by a body of other scientists, have concluded that Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co., Ltd. (HFS), a subsidiary of Taiwanese Formosa Plastics Corp. meets the requirements for the first blast furnace to start operation, after an investigation of the environmental protection components of the $10.5-billion steel and port complex in the central province of Ha Tinh.
