Hoa Phat Group not afraid to compete with Formosa
Hoa Phat Group not afraid to compete with Formosa
One of the leading Vietnamese private steel makers, Hoa Phat Group put down concerns over competition with Taiwanese Formosa project as well as the recent US tariff threats on steel and aluminum imports.
Tran Tuan Duong, general director of Hoa Phat Group, told the corporation’s annual general shareholders’ meeting on March 23, 2018 that the upcoming Hoa Phat Dung Quat steel complex is not inferior to Formosa’s and will not lose the competition.
“The investment rate of Dung Quat project is only one third of Formosa,” he added.
For 2018, the group set the priority to carry out Hoa Phat Dung Quat steel complex on schedule.
Located in Dung Quat Economic Zone, the project has a capacity of four million tonnes per year and a total investment capital exceeding VND50 trillion ($2.2 billion).
It is expected that the project will be completed by the end of 2019. Once in operation, the project will generate about $2 billion in revenue, creating jobs for 8,000 people.
On the topic of US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Duong said that the group has we diversified its export markets and the US is only one of them.
According to the general director, Hoa Phat Group does not put all their eggs in one basket.
US President Donald Trump has signed an order to impose a 25 per cent tariff on imported steel, and 10 per cent on imported aluminium. The tariffs are to take effect within 15 days. The order exempted Canada and Mexico—both major sources of imports. It also leaves room for other countries to negotiate exclusions from new tariffs.
In 2018, Hoa Phat expects to reach VND8.05 trillion ($357.7 million) in after-tax profit.
Its core business, including the production of construction steel, steel pipes, and coated steel, contributed the most to the high revenue and profit, accounting for nearly 90 per cent of the total revenue and profit of the group.
In 2017 the group exported more than 162,000 tonnes of steel bars and rolled steel to the US, Canada, Australia, and Japan, as well as Malaysia and Cambodia.
In terms of real estate, Hoa Phat handed over its Mandarin Garden 2 residential project in Hanoi to homebuyers, while expanding industrial zones in Hung Yen. It also started construction of Bac Pho Noi Urban Area and 70 Nguyen Duc Canh apartment building.
