Vinachem casts green eyes towards Laos

September 11, 2012 | 09:55

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State-owned Vinachem, the biggest fertiliser producer in Vietnam, is mulling an investment plan in a Laos-based $522 million kalium salt mining and processing project.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Vinachem recently asked the Vietnamese government to grant it an investment certificate to implement the project covering 10 square kilometres in Laos.

Vinachem said that after the project got the government’s thumbs-up, it would be kicked off in 2013 with an annual production output of 320,000 tonnes. In February this year, Vinachem signed an investment agreement with Laos’ Ministry of Planning and Investment to start works on mining and processing kalium salt on the 10 square kilometres site in Khammouan province’s Nongbok district.

Vinachem said that the group had completed studies on 196.5 square kilometres in Khammouan province’s Nongbok district and Savannakhet province’s Xaibouli district, also for kalium salt mining and processing. The studies were licenced by Laos government in 2008.

Kalium salt is an important element to produce the potassium fertiliser. At present, Vietnam has to import all of the potassium fertiliser needed for agricultural production and Laos-based proposed kalium salt processing plants will help Vietnam have a stable potassium fertiliser supply.

According to the MoIT, Vietnam imported 612,000 tonnes of potassium fertiliser in 2009, 900,000 tonnes in 2010 and 920,000 tonnes in 2011. The import volume of potassium fertiliser this year is estimated at around 920,000 tonnes.