Business
Ministry of Industry and Trade to inspect three loss-making projects
  • | dtinews.vn | September 23, 2017 01:22 PM
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed to inspect the major loss-making Dung Quat Shipyard, Phuong Nam Paper Mill and Lao Cai Fertiliser Plant.

The Government Inspectorate previously inspected several loss-making projects under the Ministry of Industry and Trade including the Dinh Vu polyester plant and Ninh Binh fertiliser plant.

The ministry was asked to carry out inspections at Dung Quat Shipyard, Phuong Nam Paper Mill, Hai Phong and Lao Cai fertiliser plants and has issued orders to inspect three projects including Dung Quat Shipyard, Phuong Nam Paper Mill and Lao Cai Fertiliser Plant.


  

In 2010, Dung Quat Shipyard incurred VND1.2trn (USD53m) of losses

Dung Quat Shipyard was transferred from Vinashin to Petro Vietnam while on the verge of bankruptcy. In 2010, Dung Quat Shipyard incurred VND1.2trn (USD53m) of losses and VND7.4trn of debts. The 2016 reports showed that the shipyard's losses increased to VND3.6trn.

Petro Vietnam asked state agencies to continue using their service in order to secure the jobs of the employees.

Lao Cai Fertiliser Plant under Vietnam National Chemical Group is also notorious for its losses.

A Ministry of Construction inspection pointed out several wrongdoings that increased the costs by VND80bn. The investor overspent the management fund by VND25.7bn (USD1.1m) and overpaid USD47,000 due to erroneous calculations over the engineering procurement construction contract.

Phuong Nam Paper Mill project with a VND1.5trn (USD66m) investment was approved by Long An People's Committee in 2003. After over 10 years and VND3trn was poured in, the project proved to be unsuccessful with huge losses.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said the unique equipment hadn't installed anywhere else in the world so it was faulty. They had to replace equipment so the mill's operation was badly affected.

Jute prices were also higher than estimated as they had to pay VND850 per kilo instead of VND180. In addition, low jute output in 2012 and 2013 meant the plant could only operate for two weeks. Even if there was enough jute, prices still could not offset the cost and the mill would incur VND4.6m losses for every tonne of paper it produced.

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