The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has licensed Tycoons Worldwide Steel Vietnam to invest US$1 billion in a steelworks factory in the Dung Quat Industrial Zone in the central province of Quang Ngai.

The company, a subsidiary of Taiwan's Tycoons Group Enterprise - the world's leading screw manufacturer – will build a steel refinery and rolling mill capable of processing five million tonnes of steel ingots a year, the ministry said.

The company is now operating a cold-steel rolling plant in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province's My Xuan A2 Industrial Zone.

According to the ministry, the company will invest US$539 million in the first phase from now till 2009 to build a mill which can produce two million tonnes of ingots per year. The following 2009 to 2013 phase will need another US$500 million to expand the mill’s capacity by three million more tonnes.