Vietnam seeks to show its titanic strength

Vietnam has big plans for titanium mining and processing industry, but for now a topsy-turvy market is creating problems. Up to now, Vietnam’s titanium inventory recorded nearly 500,000 tonnes, including 301,000 tonnes in the central coastal Binh Dinh province, one of the country’s titanium hubs. The huge inventory was attributed to the government’s policy of banning raw titanium exports, effective in July this year.

Vietnam’s reserves accounted for some 5 per cent of the world’s total titanium reserves, just behind Canada, the US, Norway, India and Australia, according to Vietnam Titanium Association. For many years, domestic and foreign companies have been mining titanium in this province and exporting the
raw material to the gloabl market.

Titanium is important for shipbuilding, airplane manufacturing and painting industries, among others. Nguyen Van Tong, general director of  Binh Dinh Minerals Joint Stock Company, said that the high stock was pushing firms into corner and firms still found it hard to invest  into advanced processing technologies and facilities.

However, Nguyen Manh Quan, director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s (MoIT) Heavy Industry Department, said that for the last five years, the Vietnamese government had urgently asked titanium mining firms to invest in processing facilities before the ban took effect, but the result did not live up to expectations.

“The Vietnamese government wished that firms would have to concentrate on producing refined products such as titanium slag, refined ilmenite, synthetic rutile and TiO2 pigments, all of which have high added value,” Quan said.

Tran Van Quan, chairman of Duong Lam Mining Joint Stock Company, said that firms like his were finding ways to invest in advanced processing technologies and facilities, but money was a big problem. “More importantly, we could not go on a right direction without a specific titanium mining and processing strategy,” he said.

Quan from the MoIT said that the ministry had completed such strategy, which is now in the stage of collecting comments from relevant industrial experts and the business community.

In accordance to this draft strategy, incentives would be given to potential foreign investors teaming up with local firms in developing titanium mining and processing projects with advanced technology transfer, and effective marketing of products locally and globally.