$5.4 bln Long Son Petrochemicals complex initiates full trial run

The $5.4 billion Long Son Petrochemicals Complex started a full trial run in Vietnam’s southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on Monday, with the participation of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Chairman Nguyen Van Tho.

The trial will run for two weeks and then advance to commercial operations next month, said Kulachet Dharachandra, general director of Long Son Petrochemicals Company Limited (LSP) and executive vice president of the Olefins chain (Vietnam) under SCG Chemicals.

LSP is committed to ensuring operational safety, protecting the environment, and restricting social impacts, the executive said.

Thailand's The Siam Cement Group (SCG) began construction of the complex in the fourth quarter of 2018. As a key project in Vietnam’s petrochemicals sector, the complex had been placed on a list of projects to be supervised by the Vietnamese government’s Council for State Inspection of Construction Works.

In November 2022, the project entered partial operations. At full capacity, its annual output will include 1.4 million tons of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

Vietnam now has two operational oil refineries - Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical complex in Thanh Hoa province, and Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical JSC (also called Dung Quat) in Quang Ngai province, both in the central region.