Vinh Tuong was set up at the beginning of this year as a joint venture between Universal Cement of Taiwan and Compact Resources of Singapore. Until now, Saint Gobain has been supplying the Vietnamese market from its factory in Thailand. Universal Cement, which produces gypsum products in addition to cement and downstream products, is currently building a second kiln at its Longmen cement works in the Huizhou region of Chinese province Guangdong.
When the new kiln is completed, cement production at Longmen should reach 3.0m tonnes per annum, and three times the production level of the Taiwan parent. The planned expansion in China by Universal Cement also involves a US$12m investment in five ready-mixed concrete plants.
