Formosa Plastics, a leading industrial conglomerate in Taiwan ( China ), plans to build one of the Southeast Asia’s biggest deepwater ports and a nearby steel mill as part of a multi-billion USD project in Vietnam.

The port and steel mill will be located in the central province of Ha Tinh, an official, who asked not to be named, was reported by AFP as saying on September 15.

According to the official, the port will be able to accommodate freighters with a capacity of up to 300,000 tonnes when completed by 2012.

The steel mill, designed with an initial capacity of 7.5 million metric tonnes, will be located about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Vietnam 's largest iron ore deposit at Thach Khe.

“The steel mill is mainly aimed at Vietnam's domestic market, which is rising fast but so far has had to rely mainly on imports,” the official said.

“But in the future, its steel products can also be sold to neighbouring countries in the Southeast Asian region,” he added.

The conglomerate plans to build a second steel mill and a petrochemical complex in Vietnam in future, AFP said./.