This was announced by the company’s director general, Hsueh Hung Yi, at a recent meeting with provincial authorities.

The project in the Dung Quat Economic Zone was put on hold for over 18 months due to the global recession.

The deputy director of the Zone Authority, Le Van Dung, confirmed that Guang Lian Steel has solved its financing problems and was preparing to relaunch the project at a budget enlarged from the previous figure of US$3 billion to $4.5 billion.

Guang Lian, established by Taiwanese steel giants Tycoons and E-United, has already begun work on the plant and a workers residence.

With first-phase land clearance nearing completion, 223ha of the eventual 455-ha site has been handed over to Guang Lian.

When completed, the plant will have a capacity of 3 million tonnes in the first phase and five millions tonnes in the second phase. It will use blast-furnace technology and will be one of the two largest projects in the economic zone.

VNS