Posted on 21 Aug 2017
Japanese steelmaker Kyoei Steel announced Friday that it will build a plant for reinforcing bars in northern Vietnam for about 21.8 billion yen ($200 million), revisiting stalled plans in order to both boost output capacity and cut down on costs.
Construction will begin by the end of the year, with the rolling mill slated to come online in 2019 and the steelmaking facility in 2020.
The Osaka-based company began planning a new steelmaking and rolling facility with an annual output capacity of 500,000 tons back in 2012, when it acquired the operations in Vietnam. But it suspended all new construction in 2014 amid a tougher market.
Kyoei Steel currently can only roll steel in Vietnam. It processes steel billets purchased from the outside into bars and other products. But market conditions in China have led to an increase in billet prices. By also handling production in house, the electric-furnace steelmaker hopes to cut production costs.
