The plant will be part of a steel mill complex that the conglomerate intends to build in the central Vietnamese province of Ha Tinh, a group official told AFP.

The official said a timetable of the construction of the stainless steel plant had not been finalised, and declined to disclose further details.

The Taipei-based Economic Daily News reported Monday the plant will cost the group 100 billion Taiwan dollars (3.1 billion US dollars).

The newspaper said the planned stainless steel plant is expected to roll out two million metric tonnes a year.

Earlier this year, the group, whose interests range from petrochemicals to semiconductors, said it planned a stainless steel plant in Fujian province in southeast China with an annual capacity of one million metric tonnes.