China Steel Corp, Sumitomo Metal to set up JV in Vietnam

China Steel Corp (CSC), Taiwan's leading steel manufacturer, announced that it has signed an agreement with Japan's Sumitomo Metal Industries (SMI) to establish a joint venture in Vietnam.

According to the contract, CSC will invest approximately US$1.15 billion to acquire 51% stake in the joint venture named China Steel Sumikin Vietnam Joint Stock Company (CSVC), and SMI will hold approximately 30% stake.

The new mill will start operations in early 2012, which is capable of producing 1.5 million tons of cold rolled products per year. The steel sheets produced by CSVC will be mainly provided to automakers and consumer electronics makers in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations.

The Taiwan-based company recently announced its unaudited June sales of NTD 23.92 billion, a record high for a single month. The figure is a year-on-year increase of 35.4% and month-on-month increase of 4.75%.