HCMC – Hoa Phat Group (HOSE: HPG) has proposed a new steel rolling project in Quang Ngai Province, aiming to manufacture high-quality steel rails for urban and high-speed railways.
The project is planned for Binh Thuan Commune, near the Dung Quat Economic Zone, and scheduled for implementation between 2025 and 2027. In its first phase, the company requires about 42 hectares of land to begin construction in 2025.
On March 21, Tran Phuoc Hien, vice chairman of the People’s Committee of Quang Ngai, chaired a meeting to address issues related to the investment proposal. He emphasized the provincial government’s commitment to facilitating key industrial projects, calling this one urgent and strategically important for national infrastructure development.
The proposal aligns with a directive of the prime minister issued in February, which urged stronger domestic industrial development and deeper involvement in national infrastructure projects during 2025-2030.
Hoa Phat has established itself as a major investor in Quang Ngai through long-term projects in the Dung Quat Economic Zone. The company currently operates the Hoa Phat Dung Quat 1 Integrated Steel Complex, which has a design capacity of six million tons per year and has been running since 2021. A second facility, Hoa Phat Dung Quat 2, is nearing completion and expected to begin operations in 2025 with an annual capacity of 5.6 million tons of high-quality hot-rolled coil.
The proposed railway steel project is intended to complement Hoa Phat’s existing operations and support the Government’s push for high-speed rail infrastructure. The company plans to focus on deep processing and the production of high-value steel products for both domestic use and export.
HPG held steady at VND27,150 per share on March 24, marking its second consecutive flat close, with over 16.2 million shares changing hands.
Vietnam’s benchmark index closed higher, supported by gains in key bluechip stocks, particularly stocks in the Vingroup family and banking sector.
The VN-Index added 8.44 points, or 0.64%, to end the day at 1,330.32 points, with 196 gainers and 249 decliners on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange.
Market liquidity improved significantly, with trading volume exceeding 926.6 million shares worth VND19.58 trillion, up 16.3% in volume and 15.5% in value compared to the previous session. Block deals accounted for over 131.6 million shares valued at VND2.43 trillion.
The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 largest-cap stocks, surged nearly 12.43 points to 1,390.70 points. The basket saw 14 winners and 13 losers by session’s end, with strong demand in the afternoon session boosting momentum.
Vingroup-related stocks were the main drivers. VIC hit its daily upper limit, closing at VND56,700 per share, with a matching volume of 11.9 million shares. VHM gained 6.3% to VND51,300, with over 15.5 million shares changing hands. These two stocks alone contributed nearly seven points to the main index.
Several banking stocks posted notable gains. SHB surged 5.5% to VND12,400, with a trading volume of nearly 84.7 million shares, the highest on the southern market. TCB rose 2.4%, while heavyweight VCB reversed early losses to finish up 0.8%.
However, TPB failed to maintain early gains, ending 1.7% lower at VND14,500 despite a robust volume of nearly 29.5 million shares, second only to SHB. Foreign investors offloaded nearly 11 million TPB shares during the session.
In real estate, gains in Vingroup stocks helped lift the sector overall, though the rally remained uneven. Stocks such as PDR, DIG, HDC, and IJC all fell over 1%. PDR declined 1.5% with a volume of 25.34 million shares, while NVL dropped 4.2% to VND10,300, with nearly 19.7 million shares traded.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index added 0.18 points, or 0.07%, to 246 points, with 71 stocks rising and 91 others declining. Total matching volume reached nearly 50 million shares worth over VND825 billion.
