An official from the Vietnam Steel Association has said that an exchange of iron ore from the Quy Sa mine of Sino-Vietnamese joint venture VTM for coking coal from China has been approved by Vietnam's Ministry of Trade and Industry.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, in the last two years the VTM joint venture based in the northeastern Vietnamese province of Lao Cai has exported 500,000 mt of iron ore to China annually from the local Quy Sa mine.
Quy Sa is the second largest iron ore deposit in Vietnam, with reserves of 120 million mt.
VTM is a joint venture consisting of Vietnam Steel Corporation, Lao Cai Mining Company and China's steelmaker Kunming Iron and Steel Group. In April this year VTM commenced construction of a new steel mill in the province of Lao Cai. The $337 million mill is expected to become the second largest steel mill in Vietnam with an annual output of one million mt upon completion.
The first phase of the steel mill is expected to be completed in 2012 with an annual output capacity of 500,000 mt of billets, while construction of the second phase involving an annual capacity of 500,000 mt of rolled steel will take place from 2012 to 2015. The iron ore used by the mill will be supplied by the Quy Sa mine.