POSCO, South Korea's leading steelmaker, said Wednesday that it will expand its stainless steel production capacity in Vietnam to meet growing demand in Southeast Asian markets.
The company plans to construct a plant with a capacity of 1 million tons in Vietnam in addition to the one it already operates there with a capacity of 1.2 million tons.
In 2009, POSCO acquired Asia Stainless Corp., a Vietnamese steelmaker that produces around 85,000 tons of stainless steel annually.
The world's third-largest steelmaker plans to expand the unit's annual production capacity to 285,000 tons by 2014.
Demand for steel in Vietnam is projected to increase about 8.7 percent per year until 2020, the company said.
POSCO also has been in negotiations to take over Thainox Stainless Plc., Southeast Asia's largest stainless steel producer, but the process has been stalled due to political instability in Thailand.