HCM City revokes land for Metro Line No 2
HCM City authority has announced plans to take over land in District 1 for the metro line No 2 connecting Ben Thanh Market (in District 1) and Tham Luong Bus Station (in District 12).
At a meeting to announce the acquisition plans on May 5, Luu Trung Hoa, deputy chairman of the District 1 People's Committee, told people affected by the acquisition that the total area to be taken over was 16,550sq.m.
Twenty four households and eight organisations will lose their lands, three households fully and the rest, parts of them.
Hoa said District 1 authorities had arranged for replacements for them, including nine apartments in Tenement No 203, Nguyen Trai Street. District 1 will also collaborate with the city Department of Construction to arrange for more houses for the families to be relocated.
City authorities are scheduled to pay compensation and take over the lands in September this year.
The lands will then be handed over to HCM City authorities for handing over in turn to the HCM City Management Authority for Urban Railways in July 2016.
Construction of line No 2 is scheduled to begin in 2017.
Steel industry battered by imports, excess capacity
Though domestic steel production is two times the demand, imports of steel products are rising relentlessly, putting local manufacturers under even more pressure.
According to figures from customs, in the first quarter of this year Vietnam imported 2.88 million tonnes of steel products worth US$1.72 billion, an increase of 30.7% in volume and 15% in value from a year earlier.
Notably, imports from China accounted for nearly 50% of the total, with the quantity of steel containing boron (which qualifies for zero per cent import tariff) increasing year after year.
Last year out of 11 million tonnes imported, steel containing boron from China accounted for nearly five million tonnes.
The Chinese steel was sold for construction at VND1 million to VND2 million per tonne lower than local products.
This has forced many local steel manufacturers to scale down production, some by 60%, or even shut down their plants.
The import of scrap iron is another headache for local steel producers.
Demand for domestically made steel remains sluggish as due to the import of cheap steel from neighbouring countries.
Despite promotions, in the first quarter only 300,000 tonnes of local products were sold in the market, down 30% year-on-year.
The Vietnam Steel Association said demand in the local market this year would be around six million tonnes, 8 per cent higher than last year.
But the capacity in the country is around 11 million tonnes a year, nearly double the demand, creating bruising competition.
According to a report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the competition would become even more intense when steel imports from a number of countries enjoy lower taxes under bilateral trade agreements Viet Nam has signed or will sign with countries like China, Russia, the Republic of Korea, and Belarus.
In addition, local supply has been increasing with the opening of new plants by Posco SS, Formosa, and Vinakyoei.
"The licensing of new steel plants at a time when there is a surplus in local steel supply (though the existing plants are not operating at full capacity) has led to a demand-supply imbalance," an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Market Department said.
Faced with such a situation, local steel firms have demanded protection against imports in the initial stages of global integration.
Relevant agencies should impose "technical and commercial barriers" on steel products containing boron imported from China, they said.
They also want the Government to reject investment projects that use outdated facilities to keep supply lower.
"To ensure sustainable development of the steel industry, the Government should allow non-state enterprises to submit tenders for projects funded by State budgets," said Tran Minh Ngoc of the HCM City University of Technology.
