Authorities in Ha Tinh on Friday signed off on an investment certificate for a nearly VND80 trillion ($3.07 billion) steel plant project by Vingroup (HoSE: VIC), marking a major expansion of the group’s industrial footprint in the central Vietnam province.

The Vinmetal steel plant will be implemented by Vinmetal Production and Trading JSC, a subsidiary of Vingroup, on a site of more than 460 hectares within the Vinhomes Vung Ang Industrial Park, according to Ha Tinh newspaper, a media entity under the provincial Party Committee.

Illustration of the Vinmetal steel plant project in Ha Tinh province, central Vietnam. Photo courtesy of the company.

The plant, with annual capacity of five million tons, will produce hot-rolled coil (HRC), high-strength steel, and specialty alloy steel. Output is intended to directly support electric vehicle manufacturing, high-speed transport infrastructure, and civil construction demand.

VinMetal was established by Vingroup last October with charter capital of VND15 trillion ($575.93 million) and is led by general director Pham Nhat Quan Anh, the eldest son of Vingroup chairman Pham Nhat Vuong.

The company aims to secure raw material supply for Vingroup’s core business segments, including property development under Vinhomes (HoSE: VHM) and electric vehicle production by VinFast.

It also plans to supply steel for major transport infrastructure projects under study, including the North-South high-speed railway and lines linking Ho Chi Minh City to Can Gio and Hanoi to Quang Ninh.

The steel project further strengthens Vingroup’s industrial chain in Ha Tinh. The group has already put into operation a VinFast electric vehicle manufacturing plant covering 360,000 square meters with annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles.

It has also launched a VinES battery factory with first-phase investment exceeding VND4 trillion ($153.58 million), and received approval for a VND21.4 trillion ($821.66 million) factory-for-lease project to serve supporting industries.

Tran Bau Ha, standing Vice Chairman of the Ha Tinh People’s Committee, said the investment license for VinMetal underscores the province’s efforts to attract large-scale processing and manufacturing projects, boosting budget revenue, creating jobs, and gradually developing the Vung Ang Economic Zone into a modern and sustainable industrial-service hub.