Vietnam to invest $694 mln in fertiliser plant-report

HANOI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Vietnam plans to invest $694 million in a coal-based fertiliser plant to reduce its reliance on imports, the Vietnam News Agency reported on Friday.

The plant, to be built in the northern province of Ninh Binh, would be completed by 2010, with an annual capacity of 560,000 tonnes per year, the report said.

State-run operator Vinachem has awarded the engineering procurement contract to China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering Corporation, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

China Eximbank has lent $250 million to the project, the report said.

Vietnam has only one major fertiliser producer, PVFCCo DPM.HM, which churns out about 740,000 tonnes per year. (Reporting by Nguyen Nhat Lam; Editing by Ben Tan)