Blue chip gains lift VN-Index near 530

The VN-Index climbed to near 530 points on Aug. 24, buoyed by a strong increase in blue chip shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.

The Index rose 1.74 percent to close at 528.2, while trading remained brisk. Transactions on the exchange totalled 2.3 trillion VND (129.2 million USD) on a volume of 53.3 million shares.

Many major stocks gained on Aug. 24 after largely treading water last week, giving the Index a strong impetus to resist downward pressure from heavy sales on Aug. 24 of penny stocks.

Blue chips FPT, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG) and Phu My Fertilisers (DPM) all hit the ceiling of their regulated trading bands by the end of the day.

Sacombank (STB) continued as the most active share on the southern exchange with 3.9 million traded, followed closely by VietFund Management (VFMVF1) with 3.8 million.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange on Aug. 24, the HNX-Index also rose 1.59 percent to end the day at 164.56, on a volume of 33.9 million shares, worth a combined 1.19 trillion VND (66.8 million USD).

Construction shares showed the heaviest activity on the northern bourse, with recently listed PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) generating orders for 3.8 million shares, and Vinaconex Group (VCG) 2.9 million.

Enterprises were gradually escaping from economic difficulties due to the Government stimulus package, fuelling stronger investor hopes for recovery and leading to recent exciting developments on the stock market, said Tong Minh Tuan, deputy director of the BIDV Securities Co analysis department.

“In comparison with the beginning of June when the VN-Index reached a peak of 525, economic conditions are much better now, so the 550-point mark can be anticipated in the short term,” Artex Securities Co analysts wrote in a report.

What would be able to further spur investor expectations in the coming days, they suggested, were brighter global economic prospects, boosted exports, and better inflation figures in August. In the meantime, buys by foreign investors hit a two-week high on Aug. 24, although overall volumes stayed modest on both exchanges.

In HCM City, foreign investors were responsible for net buys of 801,000 shares worth 75 billion VND (4.2 million USD), on an overall volume of 5.5 million shares. In Hanoi , they were net buyers of 1.5 million shares, worth a total of 64.3 billion VND (3.6 million USD), on an overall volume of 1.9 million shares.

Buys were focused on Kinh Bac Urban Development (KBC) while Alphanam Group (ALP) was the share most likely to be sold on Aug. 24 by foreign investors.

Vietnam opens North’s largest LPG storehouse

PetroVietnam Northern Gas Joint Stock Company (PVGas North) has inaugurated the first phase of the Northern Depot of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in Dinh Vu Industrial Zone in the port city of Hai Phong.

This is the largest LPG storehouse to be put into operation in the northern region and the second largest one in Vietnam, after Thi Vai Depot.

The storehouse has a total investment capital of over 580 billion VND (nearly 32.5 million USD) and it is designed to have a storage capacity of 5,000 tonnes this year and an estimated 10,000 tonnes by 2013.

The storehouse’s output is expected to increase annually to over 200,000 tonnes by 2013 and nearly 300,000 tonnes by 2018.

The project is part of a master plan to build a system of petroleum and LPG depots, approved by the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).

The construction of the system started early last year on an area of 3.69 hectare. The system includes five basins with capacity of 7,500 tonnes per basin.

Oil and gas maintenance company debuts

The Petrovietnam Maintenance and Repair Joint Stock Company (PMC) made its debut in the central city of Quang Ngai on August 24.

PMC has a statutory capital of 50 billion VND (2.7 million USD) from six share holders, including the Petroleum Technical Services Corporation (PTSC), which holds the biggest amount of shares.

PMC is expected to ensure the country’s Dung Quat Oil Refinery operates effectively, which is also located in Quang Ngai province.

PMC is only the second company in the country to provide such a service. The only other operator in the country was PTSC Offshore Services, a member of PTSC, which now operates in the southern region and Vietnam ’s southern continental shelf.

At the ceremony, PTSC signed a 60 million USD EPC contract with the central region’s Oil and Gas Bio Fuel Joint Stock Company for a project to produce bio-ethanol.

PSTC will work with India ’s Alfa Laval to carry out the project in an estimated 18 months.

Dong Xuan company enhances ties with Japan

The Dong Xuan Knitting Company (Doximex) has recently invested around 30 million USD to build a plant complex to produce high-quality knitwear products in northern province of Hung Yen as a bid to boost its cooperation with Japanese partners.

The company organised celebrations to mark the 20 th anniversary of its cooperation with the Japan-based Sanshin Trade Joint Stock Company and Katakura Industry Joint Stock Company in Hanoi on August 24.

Speaking at the ceremony, Doximex General Director Truong Thi Thanh Ha said that her company has signed 41 contracts with the two Japanese companies to export products worth over 74 million USD for the past 20 years.

Doximex’s knitting underwear produced with the Japanese technology and a series of its knitwear branded “Topvalue” are the best sellers in Japan, reflecting Doximex’s prestige of the product quality as well as the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation, she said.

At the ceremony, Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan presented the Friendship Orders to Chairman of Sanshin’s Management Board Tanaka and Chairman of Katakura’s Management Board Iwanoto Kenzo.

They were also offered medals for their contributions to the development and the stability in the cooperation between them and Doximex.

Dung Quat refinery shuts down for technical checks

Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, known as PetroVietnam, said it will temporarily shut down its Dung Quat oil refinery after a contractor asked that the plant be closed to carry out technical inspections, the company said.

The refinery’s fluid catalytic cracker, which makes gasoline and other products, broke down on August 18 due to technical problems, according to PetroVietnam.

Dang Vu Minh, chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Science, Technology & Environment, led a team to inspect the plant on Monday and said the consortium of contractors led by French oil services group Technip needs to find the cause of the problem and fix it soon to help the refinery operate at full capacity.

Last month, PetroVietnam, said that Dung Quat, based in the central province of Quang Ngai, was expected to run at full capacity by August 25.

The 148,000 barrel-a-day refinery, which started commercial operations in February, aims to meet a third of Vietnam’s fuel demand by next year. The nation currently imports almost all of its oil products.

Vietnam to lower morning peak-hour power costs by 20 pct

Enterprises that operate only during the day will pay 20 percent less than the current power rates for morning peak hours, according to a decision by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The decision will take effect on September 1, applied to companies operating in the daytime and purchasing power at medium voltage levels of 35 kilovolts or less. Companies that also work night shifts are not given any discount.

Commercial power users are currently charged double normal rates between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. and between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Before March 1, only power use between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. was subject to peak rates.

Many businesses had since protested the extension of peak hours, saying the morning period from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. is a key production period.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said a survey on the impacts of the extension found that companies operating only during the daytime were most affected by the new pricing policy. They had to pay an average of 17 percent more for power, the ministry said. 

VietNamNet/VNA, TN

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