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Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation (Chinese: ''台塑河靜鋼鐵興業責任有限公司'', Vietnamese: ''Công ty TNHH Gang Thép Hưng Nghiệp Formosa Hà Tĩnh'', abbr. FHTS) is a steel plant established in the Vung Ang Economic Zone,
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
by the '' Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company'' under the backing of the Taiwanese conglomerate
Formosa Plastics Group Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, ) is a titular Taiwanese conglomerate of diverse interests, including biotechnology, petrochemical processing and production of electronics components. The company was founded by Wang Yung-ching and his brother Wan ...
. Development of the plant began in the 2010s. Steel production started in May 2017.


History

''Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation'' was formed in 2008 to establish a large iron and steelmaking plant at a deepwater port in Vietnam. The primary investor and developer was
Formosa Plastics Group Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, ) is a titular Taiwanese conglomerate of diverse interests, including biotechnology, petrochemical processing and production of electronics components. The company was founded by Wang Yung-ching and his brother Wan ...
of
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. In 2010, of land in Kỳ Anh District was allocated to the development company (''Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co'') by
Ha Tinh Province Ha may refer to: Agencies and organizations * Health authority * Hells Angels Motorcycle Club * Highways Agency (now ''National Highways''), UK government body maintaining England's major roads * Homelessness Australia, peak body organisation fo ...
. Initially statements by the company estimated a $15 billion development cost to install 7.5 million tons pa steel capacity. In 2012 the developer ''Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co'' estimated an increased project of $22 billion. Governmental incentives for the plant included low taxation in imported capital goods, low land taxes, and the development of infrastructure supporting the project. Employment due to the project was expected to be c. 10,000 person; with a second phase increasing production to 22 MT pa, and creating c. 30,000 jobs. A
groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...
ceremony for the plant took place in 2 December 2012 in the presence of Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元)is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this su ...
. Associated developments included the Thạch Khê iron mine (reserves 544 MT), 60km north; GW scale thermal electric powerstations; and the Vuang Ang-Son Duong deep sea port, capable of berthing ship of up to 300 to 500 thousand tons. In 2014, Formosa Plastics reached an agreement to invest $1.15 billion to acquire approximately one third of
Fortescue Metals Group Fortescue Metals Group Limited (often referred to as Fortescue Metals Group, FMG, or simply Fortescue) is an Australian iron ore company. As of 2017, Fortescue is the fourth-largest iron ore producer in the world. The company has holdings of ...
's Iron Ore Bridge project in western Australia, together with a $123 million investment into a related port project. In early 2015,
China Steel :''There is an unrelated raw material processing company named Sinosteel based in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China).'' China Steel Corporation (CSC; ) is the largest integrated steel maker in Taiwan. Its main steel mill is located ...
(Taiwan) increased its holding in the plant from 5% to 25%, investing c. $940 million into the development of the plant. In mid 2015
JFE Steel JFE Steel () is the second largest Japanese steel manufacturer. The company was created in 2002 through the merger of the steel manufacturing business of Kawasaki Steel and NKK (Nihon Kokan). It is owned by JFE Holdings, which is listed on the To ...
(Japan) acquired a 5% stake ($215.2 million) in the plant. In late 2015, the plant outputted the first hot rolled coil manufactured in Vietnam. "Phase 1" Blast furnace iron production was scheduled to begin in 2016, with two blast furnaces at the plant having a total production capacity of 7.5 MT pa; approximately 6 MT were for flat steel production, and 1.5 MT for
rebar Rebar (short for reinforcing bar), known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel, is a steel bar used as a Tension (physics), tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid the concr ...
and other rolled steels. Two further expansion phases, were planned to increase production to 15 MT and then 22.5 MT pa. The first blast furnace began production in May 2017. In 2017, the company announced an additional ~$350 million investment into the plant, part of which was for the installation of a coke dry quenching system. Equipment for the dry coke quenching was to be supplied by Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering Co. Ltd. (NSENGI) Formosa Ha Tinh Steel’s second blast furnace started operations in May 2018, a feasibility plan for the third blast furnace is expected for 2020 .


2016 mass fish deaths

In April 2016 a mass fish poisoning in the sea near off the Vietnam coast was initially blamed on the steel plant - analysis of the sea water showed high
phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...
and pH levels; subsequently Vietnamese authorities stated no link had been shown between the plant and fish deaths. The plant was later ordered to dig up and modify a waste pipe to allow easier monitoring by Vietnamese authorities. In May 2016 the company was found to have systematically evaded taxes and claimed excess tax refunds through stating the wrong tax codes for imported equipment - VND1.55 trillion (US$69.2 million) in tax refunds and VND5.5 billion ($245.54 million) in taxes were required to be paid to the government. In late June 2016 a government report found Ha Tinh steel responsible for the 2016 fish poisoning incident. Formosa Ha Tinh Steel agreed to pay $500 million (11.5 trillion VND) compensation for the discharge, which contained
phenol Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () bonded to a hydroxy group (). Mildly acidic, it req ...
,
cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...
s and
iron hydroxide Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of which ...
s. The company blamed the discharge on errors by subcontractors during a trial operation phase. A governmental report found the origin of the pollution to be from water from wet coke quenching, which was released into the sea after a power supply failure at the plant's waste treatment facilities. According to experts monitoring
human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...
the environmental disaster at Ha Tinh led to increased trafficking of young vietnamese to Europe, due to the loss of livelyhood to local fishermen from the event; victims of the 2019 Essex lorry deaths included people from
Ha Tinh province Ha may refer to: Agencies and organizations * Health authority * Hells Angels Motorcycle Club * Highways Agency (now ''National Highways''), UK government body maintaining England's major roads * Homelessness Australia, peak body organisation fo ...
.


Other incidents

*In ~2013 Chinese workers at the complex, some of who lacked proper work visas, were reported as causing some security and order issues in the local are - an affray between vietnamese locals and chinese workers was reported at Lien Phu village in Aug 2013. *During anti-Chinese riots in May 2014 (see
2014 Vietnam anti-China protests 2014 Vietnam anti-China protest ( vi, Biểu tình phản đối Trung Quốc tại Việt Nam 2014) was a series of anti-China protests followed by unrest and riots across Vietnam in May 2014, in response to China deploying an oil rig in a dis ...
.) the plant was attacked by rioters, with fires started; four Chinese workers were killed, with 3,000 forced to leave due to the riots. As a result of the riots construction work was halted for ten weeks, resuming in July 2014. *In March 2015 a scaffolding collapse at the construction site caused the deaths of 16 workers, and injuring or trapping over 100. *On 30 May 2017, a day after test operations were resumed since the marine life disaster in 2016, a lime kiln at the steel plant exploded. No casualties were reported. The explosion was caused by a blocked
Lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime (material), lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this chemical reaction, reaction is :Calcium carbonate, Ca ...
dust filter. *On 26 August 2021 at 15:00, 3 workers died from a carbon dioxide gas leak in the plant.


See also

*
List of steel producers This is a list of the largest steel-producing companies in the world mostly based on the list by the World Steel Association. This list ranks steelmakers by volume of steel production in millions of tonnes and includes all steelmakers with producti ...


References

{{reflist, refs = {{citation, url=http://www.fhs.com.tw/Intro/history.html, title = 公司沿革, language = Chinese, work = www.fhs.com.tw , accessdate=1 May 2016


External links


Official WebsiteLGD Square Rail
Steel companies of Vietnam Steel companies of Taiwan Formosa Plastics Group Manufacturing companies established in 2008 Hà Tĩnh province Vietnamese companies established in 2008