Date: July 16, 2003
Source: VDCMedia
Author:

State-owned Vietnam National Chemical Corp., or Vinachem, has begun a pre-feasibility study for construction of a new automobile tire plant to expand annual capacity by 2 million units, a company official said Tuesday.
Nguyen Van Vuong, director of Vinachem's Project Development Department, said that construction of the plant is expected to begin in the second half of next year.

"We plan to complete all the studies by mid-2004, and if the government approves it, the plant can be built at a cost of US$100 million, with all the funds coming from Vinachem," Vuong said.

Vinachem plans to produce 1.12 million truck tires this year at existing facilities, an increase of 38.8% on year, company figures showed.

The new plant will produce 1 million truck tires and 1 million passenger car tires.

Domestic demand for automobile tires will rise significantly in the coming years, in line with rapid growth in the automobile industry, he noted. There were 607,400 automobiles registered in Vietnam at the end of last year, and the figure will increase to 1 million by 2005, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufactures Association, or VAMA. Breakdown figures for trucks and cars weren't available.

An executive with the state-owned Sao Vang Rubber Co., the country's second largest tire maker, said Vietnam is currently only capable of meeting 30% of the domestic demand for truck tires, while all car tires are imported. "The government is urging all Vietnamese tire makers to upgrade and expand production to be able meet domestic demand and have products exported from this year," the executive said.

A Vinachem affiliate, Southern Rubber Industry Corp., or Casumina, exported 35,000 truck tires to Malaysia and Indonesia in the first five months this year, state media reported. Casumina is building a US$5.3 million plant, using Japanese technology, to produce 500,000 car tires a year from 2004 in the south of Vietnam.

Vietnam is abundant with natural rubber, and among the world's largest rubber exporters.

Last year, the country shipped 444,000 metric tonnes of rubber valued at US$263 million to overseas markets.