Reuters reported that the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group will delay alumina production to the Q1 of 2012 from an earlier target for the end of this year because rain held up construction.

In September, the group said it would start producing in November and sell an estimated 50,000 tonnes this year directly to clients without any tenders.

Mr Vu Manh Hung deputy CEO of Vinacomin said that but rains in the Central Highlands where the country's first alumina refinery is located have delayed construction. We could have products by the end of the first quarter next year. The Hanoi based group has not fixed a timeframe to sell the products. Alumina output at the USD 460 million Tan Rai plant would rise to 350,000 tonnes next year around half its projected annual capacity.

Vinacomin and China's Yunnan Metallurgical Group have 30 year deal for the Vietnamese firm to sell 600,000 tonnes to 900,000 tonnes of alumina to Yunnan Metallurgical each year to feed its smelter, Yunnan Aluminium Industry Company Limited.

(Sourced from Reuters)