HCMC – Dungquat EZ Authority (DEZA), in collaboration with the HoChiMinh City Plastics Association (HPA) and  PetroVietnam Residence Development and Management JSC (PV Building), held a talk in HCMC on 9^th April 2011  with some plastics makers in this southern city to promote the formation of a  plastic industrial complex in Dunguat EZ.

The idea of developing such an industrial complex in Dungquat dates  back several years ago and DEZA had taken early actions to materialize it. However, that plan faced a lot of difficulties to become true  because the investment environment in Dungquat EZ at that time still endured several unfavorable factors, i.e. the port infrastructure was under-developed and maritime routes were not available while the zone is far away from supply sources of raw materials and local plastics market were still small. Up to this moment, when the Gemadept - Dungquat international port opens domestic and international container routes, Chu Lai airport continously increases its number of flights, and especially the Dungquat Polypropylene plant has  went into operation with a processing capacity of 150,000 tons per year, the previous unfavorable factors now seem to turn into the advantages in Dungquat,  DEZA representative said at the meeting. Therefore, the vision of establishing an industrial cluster for plastics factories in Dungquat in this period is positive and feasible.

During the talk, Mr. Tran Cong Hoang Quoc Trang, President of HPA said that the idea of forming such an industrial complex in Dungquat EZ was consistent with the current orientation of HCMC’s plastics enterprises which is about to move their production facilities away from the City’s center and get closer to consumption markets and raw material sources.

Vietnam's plastic industry has grown relatively fast, at an average annual growth rate of 15-20% during the past 10 years, but the sector has to import approximately 80% of materials, costing about $ 3 billion yearly, Mr. Trang said. Fluctuations in exchange rates and increase in raw material price in recent years have impacted on the sector’s business and undermined the competitiveness of plastics enterprises. Therefore, access to the available polypropylene sources supplied locally is considered a major competitive advantage when located plastics manufacturing facilities in Dungquat EZ.

At this event, representatives of PV Building also presented about its intention in seeking potential partners to jointly invest in a project which would manufacture plastic products from polypropylene to be supplied by Dungquat PP Plant. The tentative product categories of this calling  project include plastic products for household consumption, for high-tech industries and for construction. Talking about the feasibility of this project, PV Building representative said the company had several  advantages to make its business plan a success, such as its easy access to to the local material supply, its ability to arrange the required capital and the availability of 20 hectares of land in Dungquat EZ to build a new factory ....

Concluding the talk,  DEZA representative said it would research and consider some incentives on land, labor training, infrastructure development, supporting utilities ... and would develop a well-built industrial park in Dungquat dedicated to plastic factories. Meanwhile, the HCMC Plastics Association said that it would facilitate information sharing and help promote its member firms to invest in Dungquat and would organize site survey visits to Dungquat for the concerned businesses.

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Three oil rigs off the coast of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province. The rigs are operated by Vietsovpetro, a joint venture between PetroVietnam and Russian oil company Zarubejneft. — VNA/VNS Photo Trang Duong

HA NOI — The PetroVietnam Group will spend US$2.35 billion developing 25 petroleum projects in countries of the former Soviet Union, as well as in Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin America. Oil and gas exploitation overseas would eventually reach 2-3 million tonnes per year, with reserves as high as 15 million tonnes.

The group made the announcement at a conference in Ha Noi on Tuesday held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to discuss opportunities for the development of Viet Nam's oil and gas industry with Dutch companies.

PetroVietnam was also intending to invest a total of $84 billion between now and 2015 in strengthening oil and gas exploitation, petrochemicals production and other related lines of business, the group said.

Nguyen Thanh Tung, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, told the conference that the potential for the oil and gas industry and the energy sector overall in Viet Nam remained great. However, he said, foreign investment and technology was needed to develop a domestic gas processing industry.

Tung said that, to attract investment in the petroleum sector, the Vietnamese Government had offered incentives and created opportunities for foreign investors and joint ventures to develop various projects in the nation's oil industry.

Gas exploration and exploitation, particularly in the southern part of the continental shelf, remained in the beginning stages, he said. The nation's untapped gas reserves have been estimated at 682 billion cubic metres, offering a greater potential for exploitation than oil.

According to PetroVietnam, Viet Nam's crude oil reserves stood at 4.4 billion barrels at the end of 2010, while crude oil productivity last year reached 15.1 million tonnes. Gas production reached 9.4 billion cubic metres.

The Dung Quat oil refinery has been in operation for two years with a capacity of 6.5 million tonnes per year, corresponding to approximately 148,000 barrels a day and meeting 30 per cent of domestic demand for refined petroleum products.

PetroVietnam has plans to build additional refineries in the provinces of Thanh Hoa and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Source: VNS

Launching Ceremony for the 13^th National Week on Occupational Safety – Hygiene (OSH) and Fire-explosion Prevention in 2011 took place at Dungquat Economic Zone on 21^st March 2011. This yearly event is aimed at raising the awareness and the sense of responsibility of employers, employees and relevant authorities on the matters of improving the working conditions for the labours, establishing preventative measures and minimizing accidents and diseases caused by work.

5,125 occupational accidents occurred in Vietnam in 2010 involving 5,307 people, of whom 601 were killed and 1,260 people were badly injured. Meanwhile, the number of fires, explosions in the year rose to 2,260 cases, costing the life of 84 people and making 246 injured. Most of the accidents were caused by unsafe equipment, lack of guidance and training to labourers on labour safety matters, unavailability of labour safety measures and procedures at the working places. Meanwhile, the accumulative number of people affected with occupational disease by 2010 was 26,928  people, most of them suffered from silicosis and hearing impairment caused by noised.

The OSH National Week's launching ceremony 

The selected theme of this year’s HSO National Week is “Labour Safety for the happiness of each family and the sustainable development of each enterprise”. The organizing board for this event called for great efforts of all related parties to create a safe and fresh working environment for the labours, since the good health and safety of employees are important to the development and success of businesses. Enterprises were also encouraged and required to strictly follow the OSH regulations.

Following the launching ceremony, a joint fire-fighting exercise was conducted by the 15 firefighting and rescue forces of Quang Ngai province and the Binh Son Oil Refining – Petrochemical Company (BSR) which is the operator of Dungquat Oil Refinery. The incident practiced included firefighting for an oil tanker under fire when docking at berth No.1 of Dungquat port, containing the fire from widely spreading, rescuing victims from the tanker and bringing them onshore for treatment.

                                                        The joint firefighting practice.

The first National Week on OSH was held in 1999 and this event has been organized on a yearly basis. Dong Nai province will be the host for the next year’s event.

By TVDanh

Dungquat Shipbuilding Industry Company (DQS) conducted to launch a barge called “VSP-05” on 27 Feb 2011 at its facility in Dungquat EZ and handed over to its client Vietsovpetro. DQS also launched on the same day a tugboat named “Dungquat 01” with a capacity of 2,400 horsepower which will be used for towing operations at the shipyard’s dock and wharf.

The barge is 110m long, 32m wide, 7m high and has a capacity of 15,000 tons. It’s valued at VND 97 billion (~ US$ 4.6 million).

VSP-05 can be seen as the first product finished at this shipyard since its establishment in 2006. Being transferred to PetroVienam in July 2010, DQS gained better momentum in terms of financial and human resources capability and it’s optimistic that the two much-delayed oil tankers of 104,000 DWT and 105,000 tons will be launched this year.

By TVDanh

Doosan VINA will be making history early this year when it begins manufacturing Desalination Evaporators for the world’s largest ever desalination order.

Doosan VINA will be making history early this year when it begins manufacturing Desalination Evaporators for the world’s largest ever desalination order. The order is for eight Evaporators for the Ras Az Zawr project in Saudi Arabia. The completed project will be capable of producing 728 million liters of fresh water per day which is enough fresh water to meet the daily fresh water needs of 2,000,000 people. The contract was signed recently between Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction and Saudi Arabia.

Of the eight units Doosan VINA’s desalination shop will be responsible for producing three of the evaporators which will convert salty sea water into 273 million liters of fresh water per day.

Each of the football field sized evaporator units will weigh almost 4,000 tons and be 10.6 m high x 29.2m wide and 100.4 m long.

In Doosan VINA’s initial desalination project they manufactured the first ever “Made in Vietnam” Desalination Evaporator; it is now busy providing 91 million liters of clean healthy water for a quarter million people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Recognized as a world leader in the desalination business, Doosan uses the high tech multi-stage steam and Multi Stage Flash process to produce clean healthy water for people worldwide.

With the motto: "Where there is fresh water - there is health." The Doosan VINA desalination factory hopes to bring health to people all over the globe and with these projects they are well on their way to making that dream a reality!

Source: Doosan Vina