Vietnam-based steelmaker Hoa Phat Group has announced that blast furnace No. 4 at its Hoa Phat Dung Quat Iron and Steel Complex is expected to go into operation in early 2021, completing the investment in the entire project after only four years.
Meanwhile, the company commissioned its blast furnace No. 3 in the current month of August. It will allow the company to supply hot rolled coils to the market from the end of September and will bring the complex’s daily crude steel capacity to 12,000-13,000 mt, after reaching full capacity in late September. When all four blast furnaces of the complex come into operation, the maximum daily crude steel output will reach 16,000 mt, equivalent to about 5 million mt annually and the company’s total crude steel output will reach 8 million mt annually.
The start of commercial HRC production by Hoa Phat is in line with the previously announced schedule and the planned production for sale will be 500,000 mt of coils this year, as the company said earlier. The total annual HRC production of Hoa Phat is expected to rise to 2 million mt after the completion of the second phase of the Dung Quat project.
From the beginning of the year until now, Hoa Phat Dung Quat’s billet output has reached 1.8 million mt, including 129,600 mt of slab for hot rolled coil production.
Hoa Phat Dung Quat port, ensuring maritime safety requirements, can accommodate ships with cargoes of 200,000 mt. The largest ship with a tonnage of 180,000 mt arrived at the port on August 28 this year.