Vietnam: Knauf Vietnam has commenced construction of its first gypsum wallboard plant in the northern port city of Hai Phong on 16 July 2014. Located in Dinh Vu Industrial Zone, the plant has been one of the largest foreign direct investment projects in the city. Covering an area of 63,000m2, the plant has a total investment of US$40m. When the plant is operational it will have a wallboard production capacity 12Mm2/yr.
"We have just launched two distributors in Vietnam, one in the south and one in the north and now we are starting the construction of our plant," said David Thomas, Knauf's general director. "We believe that, once completed by mid-2015, the plant will help us to gain a considerable market share in Vietnam in general and in the north in particular."
Thomas said that Knauf plans to expand its relationship with key partners such as distributors, architects, developers and government authorities, with an aim to widely introduce its products to the Vietnamese market.
"Dinh Vu Industrial Zone is a strategic location in terms of transportation and manufacturing that would provide the market with high quality products at competitive prices and improve the standards of the whole industry," said Thomas.
