April 4, 2012

After nearly four years of construction, the Ninh Binh Urea Fertiliser Plant in Vietnam's northern province of Ninh Binh last week began to launch its first commercial products, state media reported Tuesday (Apr 3).

The plant is expected to operate in full capacity of 560,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser yearly in June to supply the country's northern region, said Vu Van Phuong, deputy director of the factory which is under the Vietnam National Chemical Group (Vinachem).

The factory in Yen Khanh district's Khanh Phu Industrial Park would only meet the demand in the northern region, Phuong was quoted as saying by the Saigon Times. However, the company also targets to export its products to other Asian markets in future, Phuong noted.

The construction of the US$700-million plant started in 2008. The plant will run on coal dust from mines in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

Vinachem is also investing US$500 million to raise the Ha Bac Urea Fertiliser Plant's capacity from 170,000 tonnes to 560,000 tonnes yearly, Phuong added.

The total output of all the major urea plants in Vietnam, including Phu My, Ca Mau and Ha Bac will hit 2.7 million tonnes a year. This mean Vietnam will shift from being a urea importer to an exporter in coming time as local demand stays at around two million tonnes yearly.