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August 26th  - Projects Brantford Ontario - Tata Steel cancels Bangladesh steel mill project
Tata Steel are withdrawing a proposed investment plan of $3 billion in Bangladesh because of the country's prevalent political instability and the non-committal stance of the government. The company told reporters in Dhaka.. The announcement comes on the heel of a news release August 14 that Tata Steel, had signed an agreement yesterday with the Viet Nam Steel Corporation (VnSteel) and Viet Nam Cement Corporation (VICEM) to build a $5 billion steel complex in Viet Nam. The complex, the biggest steel plant in Viet Nam, will have an annual output of 4.5 million tonnes of steel, according to VnSteel, the country~{!/~}s largest steel maker. The agreement followed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in May last year in Ha Noi between Tata Steel and Viet Nam Steel Corporation (VSC). According to VnSteel, while Tata will hold 65 per cent of the project, VnSteel and VICEM will hold 30 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. To be located at the Vung Ang economic zone in the central province of Ha Tinh, the complex will be built in three phases. The first construction phase, from 2008 to 2011 with an investment of $100 million, will see the construction of a cold-rolled steel plant with a production capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year. The second phase, which will last until 2013, will see the construction of a $2.5 billion steel plant with an annual production capacity of 2.4 million tonnes of long steel and plate. The third phase will last until 2015 with an investment of $2.4 billion and an output of 2.2 million tonnes. "The project will not only bring sustainable values to our partners and clients but also help to push the development of Viet Nam~{!/~}s economy overall," said Tata Steel~{!/~}s Managing Director, B Muthuraman. "We commit to keep our tradition in terms of quality in corporate management and culture and environmental protection procedures," he added. Muthuraman also highly appreciated the strong support of Viet Nam~{!/~}s government as well as the provincial authorities in realising the project, saying, "This is a further confirmation that Viet Nam is an ideal place for foreign investors." VnSteel~{!/~}s CEO Dau Van Hung added that the construction of the country~{!/~}s largest steel complex will put Viet Nam into a higher place in the world steel community. "It will also make the best use of the country~{!/~}s natural iron ore reserves, help push the development of the economy and create more jobs," he said. VnSteel runs 12 subsidiaries and 14 joint ventures with foreign firms in the industry. The state-owned firm has a total capacity of five million tonnes per year, including the output of its various ventures. Established in 1907, Tata Steel has an annual crude steel capacity of 30 million tonnes. The conglomerate, along with its associates, has operations in 24 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries worldwide. Viet Nam has a GDP growth of 8.3 per cent and its current per capita steel consumption is over 85 kg. Despite the global economic slowdown, the world steel market will remain strong while the global steel making capacity will rise from 1,560 million tonnes in 2007 to 1,849 million tonnes in 2010, representing an 18.6 per cent increase, according to the OECD~{!/~}s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) steel committee meeting held in Paris earlier this summer.