Hyosung Vina Chemicals posts $72 mln loss in H1 on weaker demand, oversupply

Hyosung Vina Chemicals, the Vietnam arm of South Korean chaebol Hyosung, reported a net loss of nearly VND1.89 trillion ($71.63 million) in the first half of 2025, according to a filing with the Hanoi Stock Exchange.

The H1 loss widened its accumulated losses to VND19.24 trillion ($731.3 million).

The firm’s equity shrink to VND534.24 billion ($20.3 million) as of end-June, down from VND1.85 trillion ($70.34 million) a year earlier, reflecting continued operating losses.

Total liabilities rose 3.9% year-on-year to VND30.12 trillion ($1.14 billion). Bank loans fell 46.5% to VND13.24 trillion ($503.06 million), while other payables jumped more than fourfold to VND16.63 trillion ($632.11 million). During the period, the company also issued VND250 billion ($9.5 million) in bonds.

Hyosung Vina, established in 2018, produces basic chemicals such as ethylene, propylene, polypropylene, and hydrogen derived from liquefied gas. Its $1.67 billion petrochemical complex at Cai Mep Industrial Zone in formerly Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, which was merged with Ho Chi Minh City in July, began commercial operations between late 2021 and early 2022.

With annual capacity of 600,000 tons of polypropylene (PP) and 55,000 tons of ethylene, the facility features a 60,000-DWT port and an underground LPG storage system extending nearly five kilometers with total capacity of 240,000 tons.

Since entry into Vietnam, the company has recorded profit only once, in 2018, at KRW207 million ($144,850) and has remained in the red since. In 2022, it posted its record annual losses at KRW313.7 billion.

To bolster operations, Hyosung Vina raised its charter capital twice in 2025, from VND19.21 trillion ($729.81 million) to VND30.7 trillion in July, and further to VND30.88 trillion ($2.16 billion) in September.

In a meeting with HCMC authorities on Thursday, Hyosung Vina Chemicals representatives said the global polypropylene (PP) and petrochemical markets have been on a downward trend since 2023, weighed down by weak demand and persistent oversupply.

It attributed huge losses to heavy dumping by foreign exporters, mainly because China’s drive for petrochemical self-sufficiency has intensified oversupply and price competition across the region, especially in Vietnam, where lower import tariffs have put local producers at a disadvantage.

Parent firm Hyosung, which entered Vietnam in 2007, has invested over $4 billion in the country, making it South Korea’s third-largest investor after Samsung and LG. According to the HCMC Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA), Hyosung currently operates four major projects in the city’s industrial zones with total registered capital exceeding $3.5 billion.

These include a $2.17 billion polypropylene plant and underground LPG facility at Cai Mep Industrial Zone; a $34.2 million specialized port at Cai Mep-Thi Vai; a $730 million bio-based BDO production plant at Phu My II Industrial Park; and a $570 million carbon fiber and materials manufacturing facility, also at Phu My II.