From limestone land to cement "veteran"

Mr. Le Van Dinh was born in 1962, in a farming family in Duy Tan, an island area of ​​Kinh Mon (Hai Duong). After graduating from high school, he passed the entrance exam to Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

With outstanding achievements in chemistry in high school, he chose to study at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Department of Silicate Materials Technology. However, perhaps because he was born in Kinh Mon, a hometown with many limestone mountains favorable for cement production, his relationship with cement began early because the topic of his university graduation thesis was about cement production technology.

After graduating, he worked at the Departments of Construction, Science and Technology, and was in charge of cement production techniques at Duyen Linh Factory, then Hai Duong Cement Company.

Since 1992, state-owned enterprises have been equitized and basically completed in 2010. During this process, on April 11, 2002, the Government issued Decree No. 41/2002/ND-CP on policies for redundant workers due to the restructuring of state-owned enterprises. At that time, many people were worried and anxious when they left state-owned agencies and enterprises, without the subsidy mechanism.

However, Mr. Dinh is not one of them. He sees this as a revolution to improve the economic efficiency of state-owned enterprises, and at the same time an opportunity to establish a private enterprise, a new economic model that he really wants to try. Now recalling the time more than 24 years ago, engineer Le Van Dinh still affirms that the decision to leave the state agency and establish his own private enterprise was the right one.

In 2000, after leaving the state-owned enterprise, Mr. Dinh established Thanh Cong Construction Materials Production Company Limited, specializing in the production of mainly clinker and cement products.

When he established his own business, he hoped to overcome the shortcomings that hindered the development of state-owned enterprises with subsidy mechanisms. These problems he realized when he worked as a civil servant in departments or in charge of technical work at state-owned cement manufacturing enterprises.

Since its establishment, Thanh Cong Material Production Company Limited has been identified by Mr. Dinh as an environment to practice the specialized knowledge he has learned and a place to perfect the management and production operation experiences he has gained.

Initially, his factory also produced using vertical kiln cement technology. At that time, the vertical kiln cement "village" in Hai Duong was always on the "black" list of environmental pollution. Most business owners had a headache finding ways to limit smoke and dust. When the Government proposed a roadmap to limit and gradually eliminate this outdated technology, a new project using more suitable technology became the new goal that engineer Le Van Dinh always had in mind.

After a period of struggle, his company became the leading private enterprise to switch to rotary kiln cement technology. His passion for the job has attracted the company's technical staff to constantly promote initiatives and technical improvements in cleaner production, saving raw materials and fuel, reducing emissions, protecting the environment, etc.

After more than 24 years of construction and development, "Thanh Cong Cement" has been truly successful, becoming famous in the market, trusted and used by consumers. Hai Duong used to be the largest cement production center in the country (accounting for about 10% of total domestic output). Of which, Mr. Dinh alone has 3 cement factories with a total designed capacity of nearly 1 million tons of cement clinker and various types of cement. This enterprise has the largest scale among private cement production units in Hai Duong and is only smaller than Vicem Hoang Thach Cement One Member Co., Ltd. and Phuc Son Cement Company. Perhaps that is why when mentioning Mr. Dinh, people often jokingly call him a "tycoon" or "veteran" of cement.

In addition to the traditional product of cement for plastering that is familiar to consumers, Mr. Dinh's company has produced and launched Hai Duong PCB-40 cement on the market. This is a high-quality cement used for load-bearing structures. In addition, Thanh Cong Group has added many environmentally friendly construction materials such as concrete bricks, various types of tiles, Anfa ready-mixed concrete, precast concrete components, etc.

Developing the Successful Ecosystem

From a single member enterprise at first, Mr. Dinh has now developed a business ecosystem with Thanh Cong Group as the leader.

The three main members are Thanh Cong Construction Materials Production Company Limited headquartered in Kim Xuyen Commune (Kim Thanh); Thanh Cong II Cement Production Company Limited in Duy Tan Ward and Thanh Cong III Construction Materials Production Joint Stock Company in Hiep Son Ward (all in Kinh Mon Town).

Currently, Mr. Dinh's business has expanded into many new fields. His business system also provides industrial waste treatment services, freight transport, logistics, and vehicle inspection at Inspection Center 34-04D; effectively operates the Hai Duong Institute of Architecture and Planning. In particular, Thanh Cong Group is the only unit in the North licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to operate co-processing of industrial waste in cement clinker kilns, processing many types of waste without generating secondary waste.

Thanh Cong Group is investing in real estate projects. Thanh Cong Group JSC has "pocketed" many large projects such as Thanh Cong ecological urban area, Lac Long (Kinh Mon), Tram Bong (Gia Loc).

Mr. Dinh currently holds many important positions such as Chairman of the Board of Members, General Director of Thanh Cong Construction Materials Production Company Limited; General Director of Thanh Cong III Construction Materials Production Joint Stock Company; Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thanh Cong Group Joint Stock Company (Thanh Cong Group).

Currently, the two investment sectors of construction materials production and residential and urban area construction of Thanh Cong Group always support each other, creating development advantages. The concentration of capital for Thanh Cong Group Corporation is to meet the corresponding requirements for equity in bidding activities of investment projects. Meanwhile, the core production and business activities still come from Thanh Cong Construction Materials Production Company Limited. Many products in the construction materials group and the company's transportation services contribute to the completion of real estate projects, especially the construction of technical infrastructure for residential and urban area projects.

The "sweet fruit" from the Thanh Cong ecosystem is reflected in the bright spot in revenue. Net revenue in the period of 2016 - 2020 reached 363 billion VND, 374 billion VND, 406 billion VND, 302 billion VND and 317 billion VND respectively. The results achieved in production and business have ensured jobs and stable income for 638 workers...

Always worried

In recent years, cement manufacturing enterprises have been facing difficulties on top of difficulties... Thanh Cong Construction Materials Production Joint Stock Company is no exception. All 3 cement factories are not operating at full capacity. In 2024, the total output only reached about 70% of the design capacity. The company's workforce has decreased by 30%, currently over 600 people. Since the beginning of 2023, the company has maintained over 50 agents in the Northern region, but the amount of products consumed has still decreased significantly...

On June 15, 2024, Mr. Dinh represented Hai Duong cement enterprises to attend an online conference on removing difficulties, promoting production and consumption of cement, steel and construction materials chaired by the Prime Minister. Mr. Dinh shared: "The Prime Minister is very close to the difficulties, production and consumption situation of the construction materials industry, especially cement. The Prime Minister's instructions are a new hope in removing difficulties for enterprises."

Over the past year, Mr. Dinh and his colleagues have closely followed the Prime Minister's suggestions in managing and operating businesses. His company has restructured human resource management, reduced production costs by utilizing excess heat in production, used waste to replace fuel, and used industrial waste to replace natural materials. The company is also restructuring capital sources, reviewing investment efficiency and restructuring products to ensure they meet market demand and improve competitiveness.

At the age of over 60, Mr. Dinh also wishes to retire. However, with a deep concern for the business sector of the enterprise, especially the "child" segment of cement production, he still constantly strives to affirm the "Thanh Cong" brand.