Posted on 02 Mar 2021
Vietnam's leading steel producer, Hoa Phat Group, purchased two Japanese-made ships for the transportation of raw materials in February. Meanwhile, the group plans to start its own container production in 2022, Kallanish notes.
Hoa Phat Shipping Joint Stock Company has accepted two large ships with a maximum tonnage of 90,000 tonnes for the transportation of coal, iron ore and other steelmaking raw materials. Hoa Phat's shipping subsidiary can use this to transport the group's own raw materials and accept commercial freight orders in the market. ''Owning ships can help companies improve economic efficiency and reduce freight risks when ship prices rise,'' the company says.
Doan Quang Thinh from Hoa Phat Shipping Joint Stock Company says the group aims to purchase more ships in the near future to service the second phase of its Dung Quat steel plant.
Hoa Phat is also hiring experienced personnel for a container manufacturing project. This project has a design capacity of 500,000 Twenty Foot Equivalent units per year, and is expected to start production in the second quarter of 2022.
Hoa Phat vice chairman Nguyen Manh Tuan observes: ''Global demand for cargo containers is on the rise as a result of growing e-commerce and foreign trade. We have been conducting research in various fields and are confident we have the firepower to make the container manufacturing project successful and competitive with manufacturers from China, the world's leading container producer.”
According to Hoa Phat, shipping containers are made from weather-resistant and expensive SPA-H steel. Steel accounts for about 55% of the production cost, according to its estimates.
Source:Kallanish
