POSCO said on Wednesday it completed the construction of a cold-rolled stainless steel mill in Vietnam, raising its annual production capacity in the Southeast Asian country to 235,000 tons.

POSCO invested $130 million to build the new plant, which has a production capacity of 150,000 tons a year, to help meet the fast growing demand for stainless steel in the region.

The Korean steelmaker in 2009 acquired Vietnam’s Asia Stainless Corp. near Ho Chi Minh, renamed it POSCO VST and expanded its facility to churn out 85,000 tons of stainless steel annually.

POSCO plans to raise the production capacity to 285,000 tons in 2015 by installing an additional roller.

The annual demand for stainless steel products in Vietnam is projected to grow from the current 250,000 tons to 330,000 tons in 2015, the steelmaker said.

The demand in the Southeast Asian region is expected to grow 8 percent on average annually to reach 950,000 tons by 2015.

POSCO took over Thailand’s Thainox last year. Vietnam and Thailand together account for 67 percent of Southeast Asian demand for stainless steel.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)