Taiwan’s China Steel raises stake in Formosa Ha Tinh Steel

China Steel Corp, Taiwan’s biggest steelmaker, will invest an additional $939 million in Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, a large integrated steel mill that is being built in Vietnam.

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The investment will raise CSC’s shareholding in Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp from 5% to 25%, the company said in a statement on Friday February 13.

The announcement followed a board meeting earlier in the day in which the board approved the move.

CSC said the investment plan will further expand its cooperation with Formosa as well as give it “more flexibility” in the future of its investments in India, Southeast Asia and the surrounding regions.

Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, the biggest greenfield project in Southeast Asia, is the most significant one that has yet to come on-stream, according to the South East Asia Iron & Steel Institute.

Due to construction delays linked largely to anti-China riots last May, its first blast furnace – with 3.5 million tonnes of projected annual production capacity – is estimated to only be ready for commissioning by the end of 2015 at the earliest.

Formosa plans to eventually increase the facility’s crude steel output to 22.5 million tpy by 2020.