Currently, investors require a unified price for sand when mining by dredgers and scrapers. However, according to businesses, mining by dredgers costs more, so a higher price needs to be approved.
Starting on December 21, many businesses have increased the progress of sand exploitation on the Hau River in Soc Trang to serve component project 4 of the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway construction investment project phase 1.
To ensure clean sand for the highway, mining enterprises must wash the sand many times.
"We are focusing on speeding up sand mining to serve key national projects. On average, the company mines about 1,850m3 of sand per day and is expected to increase to 2,750m3/day in two weeks when the environmental impact assessment (EIA) is upgraded.
If the Department of Natural Resources and Environment increases the EIA, we can increase the suction vessels to exploit 5,000m3/day," the leader of Hoa Tuan Trading and Service Company Limited affirmed.
Sand price not agreed
At the commercial sand mine MS01, the enterprise whose mining license was extended signed a contract with the construction units of Component Project 4 with the unit price of sand for mining with scrapers at 81,950 VND/m3.
However, according to the proposal of Cuu Long Concrete Joint Stock Company, the unit price for using scrapers is 132,593 VND/m3 (including VAT) from August 15, 2024 onwards.
MS04 commercial sand mine, Hoa Tuan Trading and Service Company Limited proposed the provisional price of sand at the mine when using suction ship technology is 136,876 VND/m3.
For the sand mine that the contractor was directly assigned (not commercial) is MS03, Construction Corporation No. 1 - JSC proposed to provisionally calculate according to the unit price using a dredger at 136,876 VND/m3; MS12 mine according to the provisional price proposed by Truong Son Construction Corporation (using a scraper) is also up to 132,260 VND/m3.
Thus, businesses proposed many different sand prices when exploiting using two technologies: using suction ships and scrapers. Meanwhile, the investor, Soc Trang Project Management Board 2, requested clarification on why there were no unified sand prices but proposed different prices?
Sand mined at MS04 mine has many impurities.
Previously, Mr. Tran Van Lau, Chairman of the People's Committee of Soc Trang province, also requested departments, branches and investors of Component Project 4 to urgently seek opinions from central ministries and branches to finalize the official sand price for scraping and suction technology.
Using suction ships, higher costs
Sharing about sand mining at MS04 mine, Mr. Vo Minh Dung, Deputy Director of Hoa Tuan Trading and Service Co., Ltd. said that sand mining by suction vessel is more expensive than using scraper technology. After sand is sucked up from Hau River, the enterprise must screen it to wash impurities and then pump it overboard through a spillway vessel.
After these steps, the sand is washed of all impurities, mud, soil and young sand. To meet the requirements for Project Component 4, the sand is pumped to a barge and workers pump fresh water from the Hau River to wash it a second time before transporting it to the construction site.
Sand mining by dredgers.
"For other commercial mines, the scraping method is suitable because the sand is abundant and beautiful, and the cost is low because you just need to drop the scraper bucket into the water and pull it up to get the sand. The suction method at the MS04 mine is for sand mines mixed with alluvium and impurities, and must go through many stages.
Of which, the cost of cleaning alone is from 60,000 VND/m3 or more. The cleaning process to bring sand grains into the construction site for mine MS04 is very difficult," said Mr. Vo Minh Dung.
According to Mr. Dung, the provisional price of sand at the MS04 mine exploited by suction technology is 121,560 VND/m3 (excluding VAT). This price is calculated by the enterprise according to the instructions from Document No. 1545, dated June 10, 2024 of the Department of Construction Investment Management - Ministry of Transport.
With the MS04 sand mine, the company calculated nearly 20 types of costs with a total amount of over 520 billion VND. This amount divided by the sand reserves allowed for exploitation (over 4.2 million m3) will give a tentative proposed price.
Currently, Hoa Tuan Trading and Service Company Limited issues invoices for selling sand at the mine to Construction Corporation No. 1 - JSC and Trung Nam Construction and Installation Joint Stock Company with the same unit price of VND 124,433/m3 (excluding VAT).
Sand mining ships on the Hau River.
The Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway project is over 188km long, passing through four provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta, with a total investment of nearly 44,700 billion VND, and was started on June 17, 2023. Of which, the section through An Giang is nearly 57km long, Can Tho is nearly 38km, Hau Giang is about 37km and Soc Trang is more than 56km.
This route starts at Highway 91 in Chau Doc City, An Giang Province; ends at Tran De Port, Soc Trang Province. In phase one, the project will first build 4 lanes, 17m wide, allowing vehicles to travel at 80km/h. Once completed, the road surface will be expanded to over 32m with 6 lanes. The entire route is expected to be completed in 2027.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/chi-phi-khai-thac-cat-bang-cong-nghe-hut-cao-hon-dung-xang-cap-192241221151710248.htm
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