Tata Steel in pact with Vietnam Steel
Hindu Business Line — October 31, 2007

Tata Steel on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam Steel Corporation (VNSTEEL), Vietnam's largest steel company, for a proposed cold rolling mill complex in Vietnam.

Dau Van Hung, president of Vietnam Steel Corporation, and Hemant Nerurkar, chief operating officer (steel) of Tata Steel, signed the MoU in Hanoi in the presence of senior Vietnam government officials. Lal T Muana, Indian Ambassador to Vietnam, Mai Van Tinh, chairman, VNSTEEL, Indronil Sengupta, chief executive (South East Asia Projects) of Tata Steel, and other officials of VSC and Tata Steel were present on the occasion.

Tata Steel already has a joint venture with VNSTEEL in rolling mills through Natsteel, which is a Singapore-based subsidiary of Tata Steel. Tata Steel and VNSTEEL are also in the process of carrying out a feasibility study for a steel project in Ha Tinh province for which an MoU was signed in May.

Feasibility study
Tata Steel, in cooperation with VNSTEEL, will undertake a feasibility study for the cold rolling project. On the successful completion of the study and financial closure, Tata Steel will have a stake of 65 per cent and VNSTEEL will have 35 per cent in the CRM complex.

Vietnam, with a GDP growth of over eight per cent and per capita steel consumption of over 85 kg, is on the threshold of a significant increase in steel consumption including value-added steel, a Tata Steel release said.

Vietnam Steel Corporation was established in 1995 by the merger of Vietnam Metal Corporation and Steel Corporation.

The total capacity of VNSTEEL including that of its joint ventures is around two million tonnes with a product mix ranging from crude steel, high quality construction steel to sheet and plate products serving other economic sectors.

VNSTEEL also has businesses in areas such as mining and ports.