Nix waste plan heads for the bin

Nguyen Trong Hoa, head of Van Phong Economic Zone Management Authority in central Khanh Hoa province, said the authority had sent a report to Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee about its proposal to revoke the investment certificate of the delayed project as construction remained standstill since it was licenced three years ago.

“Van Phong Economic Zone Management Authority will check all expenses which the developer has  invested in this project. Then, we will look for the reasonable solution,” said Hoa.

On December 14, 2009, under a contract signed between Hyundai-Vinashin (HVS), a joint venture between South Korea’s Hyundai Group and state-run Vinashin, with Hanoi Minerals Metallurgy, a facility to treat 330,000 tonnes of nix waste per year would take shape. The construction was expected to complete in March 2011.

The project has the total registered investment capital of $71.4 million, with Hanoi Minerals Metallurgy to borrow $47.6 million from Vietnam Development Bank (VDB). However, the project implementation suspended in early 2011 without any reason reported.

In July 2011 the local authorities asked Hanoi Minerals Metallurgy to complete assessing the project’s technology and the facility had to come online in 2012’s fourth quarter. The possible licence withdrawal of Hanoi Minerals Metallurgy’s project would push the contract of nix waste treatment with HVS to the wall.  

From 1999-2007, HVS imported 809,000 tonnes of nix and used around 800,000 tonnes. As of July 2007, HVS stopped importing nix grains. In July 2008, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment  asked Khanh Hoa authorities to take stronger measures to prevent environmental problems that could be caused by the operation of HVS and the company was asked to stop using nix grains.

However, in 2010, HVS continued importing 20,000 tonnes of nix grains without approval.
Local authorities then required HVS to treat all waste discharged by its used nix grains before using newly imported grains.