The February 8 Vinalon Complex in Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province, is manufacturing products using raw materials imported from China, Daily NK has learned.
A source in South Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Monday that the February 8 Vinalon Complex recently began production using large amounts of imported raw materials imported through Sinuiju.
Based on the source’s account, the February 8 Vinalon Complex has begun full-scale production using imported raw materials, and is rallying to make up its first half of the year shortfalls in the second half of the year.
According to the source, North Korean propaganda recently claimed that the February 8 Vinalon Complex could import raw materials because of the “great love, faith and consideration” of the party and leader Kim Jong Un, who praised the “loyalty of the factory’s laborers and officials” for promising to more than make up for the shortfalls in the first half of the year.
In short, North Korea’s leadership is calling on the February 8 Vinalon Complex to be the national vanguard in chemical production.
The source said the factory’s workers have been unable to go home since the imported raw materials arrived and the factory began production, lodging in factory spaces, offices and locker rooms where they eat and sleep.
Meanwhile, a team dispatched to the factory by the country’s Cabinet in early August is directing activities to improve chemical test processes and normalize production.
The source said the Cabinet team is calling for the February 8 Vinalon Complex to vastly increase its production levels by normalizing its production processes to prove it can hit year’s chemical sector targets. The team is focusing everything into production, even reducing three shifts tasks to just two shifts.
The Cabinet team is commanding the factory to get a tight grip over its supply and raw material shortages and “move boldly forward.”
The team is also searching for ways the factory can maximize the use of its existing supplies and raw materials in production, and make up shortfalls with more imports.
The Cabinet team plans to remain onsite until late November. It intends to help Hungnam Fertilizer Complex achieve its production targets for the second half of the year, too.
The source also told Daily NK that the party and government provided seven days of rations to members of the February 8 Vinalon Complex’s “specialized working class” through the factory’s logistics department late last month. Members of this specialized working class in the factory had been without rations for several years.
The recipients were largely technicians who work in general production tasks and specialized welders. Even though the old Chinese corn they received was so bad that red mold was growing on it, the source said workers were all smiles as it was the first ration they had seen in years.
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