The Viet Nam Coal and Minerals Industry Group (Vinacomin) seeks to expand the Lam Dong Aluminum Plant in the Bauxite-Aluminum Tan Rai Lam Dong Complex.

The group proposed the expansion to the Ministry of Industry and Trade in a meeting on Tuesday.

Dang Thanh Hai, Vinacomin’s general director, said that after three years of operation, the public’s doubts relating to the project’s effectiveness have been resolved.

He said that the project has always strictly adhered to environmental norms, following instructions by the ministry as well as supervision by the local people.

An inspection conducted by the Government earlier this year concluded that the factory suffered a loss of VND3.7 trillion ($161.8 million) in the first three years of operation, which surpassed Vinacomin’s scheduled losses of VND1.66 trillion.

However, Vinacomin’s report showed that the factory earned a profit of VND50 billion in the first half of this year.

The project’s ealier losses were attributed to its expansion, which led to higher investment costs. The decreasing aluminum prices across the world coupled with increasing taxes also contributed to the losses. — VNS