Hanoi: A Taiwanese steel mill is seeking permission from Hanoi to establish a wholly owned shipping fleet in Vietnam. Formosa Iron and Steel has invested in two huge blast furnaces and will soon be churning out 7.1m tons of finished steel products a year, of which around half will be consumed in Vietnam. For this purpose the mill has sought permission from authorities to create its own shipping fleet.

As it stands foreign firms offering domestic maritime transport services are only allowed to establish joint-venture company fleets, in which the capital contribution ratio of foreign investors cannot exceed 49%.

In its petition, Formosa explained that its fleet would only transport its own steel products, so the fleet would not affect the business activities of other carriers.  [20/10/14]