Taiwanese petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) will build what could be Southeast Asia’s biggest deepwater port to facilitate its US$19 billion steel and petrochemical complex projects in Vietnam, officials said yesterday.
“We are planning to build a deepwater port, which we hope will be the biggest in Southeast Asia,” said a spokesman for Formosa Heavy Industries Corp (台塑重工), a member of the group.
Under the US$1.2 billion plan, Son Duong deepwater port, located in the northern part of central Vietnam, would be able to accommodate vessels with capacity between 200,000 and 400,000 dead weight tonnes.
The port will have a passageway measuring 400m wide and 6,748m long and, in some places, its water depth could reach 24m, the spokesman said.
“It would be a very difficult task in terms of excavation,” he said.
Formosa Heavy Industries recently received the green light from the Vietnamese government to build a US$12.47 billionpetrochemical and oil refinery project in Vung Ang Economic Zone — a year after it started building a US$6.7 billion steel complex next to its planned petrochemical project site.
Hanoi issued the steel project license last year on the condition that Formosa Heavy Industries invest in building the Son Duong deepwater port.
The Vietnamese government hopes that together with the nearby Vung Ang port, the new deepwater port could boost Ha Tinh’s development into an important gateway to the sea for the north-central part of Vietnam, as well as Laos, Thailand and other countries in the region.
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