>> Steel projects bent out of shape by land woes

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Because of an oversupply of steel, the Government will now consider projects more carefully before granting licenses to investors.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai spoke on the subject at the Vietnam Business Summit, part of the 44th Annual Meeting Board of Governors Asian Development Bank in Hanoi.

Vietnam’s current steel output is around 8 million tonnes per year, while the real demand hovers around 6.7 million tonnes, Hai added.

He noted that over the past years, Vietnam has licensed a great number of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, but has not paid due attention of their utility. As a result, many of them have had their licenses revoked due to slow implementation or incapability or negligence on the part of investors.

Ca Na steel complex, for example, has a total capital investment of US9.8 billion. Located Ninh Thuan Province, it is the biggest FDI steel project in Vietnam. But their license was withdrawn because of slow implementation. Since its inception in November of 2008, no progress has been made to date.

Many other projects, such as Guang Lian steel mill in Quang Ngai Province and USD16-billion Son Duong sea port, are in similar situations.

Another example is the India-based Tata Group, which has a USD5 billion steel project planned. However, Deputy PM Hai said, to date, the project has not yet been licensed because of unsolved problems between authorities in Ha Tinh Province and the investor.

According to Vneconomy, the investor and the authorities have not yet reached a consensus about costs for site clearance. The province claimed that Tata refused to pay for all the costs.