The move is said to capitalize on the growing demand for steel in Vietnam’s fast-growing northern region.

Hanwa acquired the shares in SMC Hanoi One Member Co. from a major Vietnamese steel products wholesaler, SMC Trading Investment Joint Stock Co., effective August 21, the Osaka-based trading company said in a statement on August 30. They renamed the steel coil service subsidiary Hanwa SMC Steel Service Hanoi Co.

The coil plant located in Hanoi is capable of processing 10,000 tonnes a month and is equipped with two large-sized slitters, which adjust the width of coils supplied by steelmakers, and one large-scale leveler among other machinery.

NNA quoted a Hanwa spokesman as saying that the deal is the company’s first direct investment in the Hanoi region. “This is also our first investment to acquire a majority stake of more than 50 percent in a coil center in Vietnam,” said the spokesman.

Hanwa also owns 20 percent of shares in SMC Trading Investment. It has invested in a steel coil center, an affiliate of Japan’s Nippon Steel Trading Corp., located in the southern Vietnamese province of Binh Duong.