Loan for cement plant expansion in Vietnam

NIB has signed a new loan agreement with the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam.

A EUR 25 million loan has been provided through onlending by the state-owned Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam for the financing of a second expansion of the Hoang Thach cement plant.

The cement plant expansion provides for setting up a cement clinker production line at Hoang Thach with a capacity of 3,300 tonnes per day. All machinery and auxiliary equipment, as well as a complete quality and process control system, will be supplied by the Danish engineering group FLSmidth. This company will also provide building design, supervision and commissioning.

The production line, which is expected to be operational by the end of December 2008, will be the third supplied by the Danish company for this plant. Originally supplied in the late 1970s, the cement plant was expanded in 1993 by adding another FLSmidth production line.

Vietnam is currently experiencing a boom in its construction sector, primarily due to rapidly growing urbanisation and the development of the country’s infrastructure. A marked increase in cement consumption is expected to occur.

“We are pleased with the positive cooperation over many years between the industrial sector and NIB, which has been to the benefit of both customers and exporters,” says Tine Bremholm Kokfelt, General Manager for Project and Export Finance at FLSmidth.