Government gives green light to Korean urea plant project

The Vietnamese government has given in-principle approval for the Chinese chemical group Hubei Yihua’s plan to build a 300,000 tonne coal-to-urea fertiliser factory in the Hai Phong port city, about 100 kilometres north-east of Hanoi capital.
With the government green-light, the local government of Hai Phong city -where the Chinese investor plans has planned its manufacturing factory site -the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Industry (Mol) and other relevant agencies will assist Hubei Yihua to work on the project and then deliver an application for an investment licence.
The government noted that issues relating to coal demand and environmental protection needed to be taken into careful consideration as the new factory was expected to consume thousands of tonnes of coal per year.
According to the Mol, the Hai Phong-based factory will make Hubei Yihua’s debut in Vietnam’s lucrative fertiliser market, where the demand for urea fertiliser is forecast to rise close to three million tonnes in the next five years.
Meanwhile, Vietnam currently has two operating urea fertiliser factories -160,000 tonne Ha Bac in the north and 740,000 tonne Phu My in the south, and two other under construction including the 560,000 tonne Ninh Binh in the north and the 800,000 tonne Ca Mau in the south. The latter two are scheduled to begin operations in the next few years.
Therefore, Vietnam still has to import urea fertiliser from overseas, mostly from China and the Middle East, to satisfy the domestic demand.
The Chinese chemical group had already met with the Hai Phong authority to discuss the project in detail and the city’s Thuy Nguyen area was one of the proposed areas for the future urea factory.
Hubei Yihua Group, headquartered in Yichang City of China, is considered one of the biggest fertiliser manufacturers in China. The main products of the group are nitrogen fertiliser, phosphate chemicals, fine chemicals and thermal electric power. The group is currently operating a 800,000 tonne urea fertiliser factory in China.

 

Category: Business