Steel maker Pomina hit with fine due to 20 environmental violations
Steel maker Pomina hit with fine due to 20 environmental violations
The two subsidiaries of Pomina Steel JSC, Pomina Steel JSC 2 and Pomina 3 Billet Refining Plant, were hit with a fine of VND4.8 billion ($210,492) for altogether 20 counts of environmental violations.
The fine was issued by the Ba Ria-Vung Tau People’s Committee, according to nguoilaodong.vn.
Notably, from 2016 to March 2018, Pomina Steel JSC 2 was detected 17 times to import scraps in which impurities exceeded the permitted levels.
For these 17 violations, the firm was issued a total fine of VND3.4 billion ($149,098).
Pomina 3 Billet Refining Plant was also found to have committed similar violations. Notably, it will have to pay VND1.4 billion ($61,393) for three counts of violations.
According to regulations, along with the fines, the local authorities will revoke the company’s licences for 90 days, after which they can resum eoperations after the local authorities have confirmed that they meet environment standards. However, their licenses have already expired.
Established in 1999, Pomina consists of three steel factories, including rolling and melting mills producing a total of 1.1 million tonnes of construction steel and 1.5 million tonnes of billets. Pomina is one of the largest steel producers and also the leading construction steel provider in Southern Vietnam.
In the first quarter of this year, the firm reported VND3.04 trillion ($133.3 million) in revenue, up 11 per cent on-year. VND2.368 trillion ($103.8 million) of this came from selling steel on the domestic market.
