QUANG NGAI (Biz Hub)— India's JK Paper and Japan's Sojitz Corporation will join hands to develop a pulp factory, expected to cost US$180 million, in the central province of Quang Ngai.

The news was made known by deputy head of the Dung Quat Economic Zone Management Board Le Van Dung, who was quoted by baodautu.vn as saying:

"The province is fulfilling final administrative procedures to grant an investment certificate to the joint-venture in the third quarter of this year."

The pulp factory, to be located in the Dung Quat Economic Zone, would provide about 200,000 tonnes of pulp annually, he said.

Sojitz in co-operation with Japan's Oji Paper Corporation had proposed to build a $1 billion pulp producing factory with an annual capacity of 600,000 tonnes in the province in 2007. However, the investors gave up on this huge project due to issues related to supply of raw materials.

The soon-to-be licensed project is expected to help the nation reduce its reliance on imported pulp, as current pulp production in the country was far below demand.

The country's paper pulp imports over the first half of this year were 691,000 tonnes with a total value of $640 million, representing a 114 per cent year-on-year rise over the same period last year.

The Viet Nam Paper and Pulp Association's statistics revealed that domestic pulp production reached 484,300 tonnes in 2012, an increase of 30 per cent over 2011. However, the association's general secretary Vu Ngoc Bao said this only met half of the demand.

Viet Nam lacks pulp and has to import it for $900-$1,000 a tonne, despite the fact that the country is ranking first in the world for exporting woodchips (used in pulp production) during the last two years. — VNS