Japanese firm eyes $30 mln polysilicon plant in southern Vietnam

Japanese chemical company and silicon maker Tokuyama Corporation plans to build a $30 million polysilicon plant in the southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

The provincial newspaper reported that a senior executive of the corporation, Suzuki Takeshi, discussed the plan at a Thursday meeting with local authorities.

The five-hectare factory to be built at the Phu My 3 Industrial Park of the southern coastal province will use metallic silicon as raw material to produce polycrystalline polysilicon for semiconductors and solar cells, Takeshi said.

Tokuyama and Ba Ria-Vung Tau-based Thanh Binh Phu My JSC, the investor of the industrial park, signed a memorandum of understanding last month on leasing land in the facility.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau Vice Chairman Nguyen Cong Vinh said the province would facilitate the investment and asked Thanh Binh Phu My JSC to work with local agencies for quick deployment of the project.

Vietnam’s index of industrial production (IIP) decreased 0.7% year-on-year in the first seven months of the year, due to prolonged economic headwinds and weak demand worldwide, according to the General Statistics Office. Ba Ria-Vung Tau outperformed the country’s average with its IIP growing 4.28% in the period, according to local data.

Chemicals is a major sector of the southern coastal province wherein a green and circular economy model is being followed, local authorities have said. Major projects include: South Korea-invested Hyosung Vina Chemicals’ polypropylene (PP) factory and LPG terminal; the $5.4 billion Long Son Petrochemicals (LSP) complex with an annual capacity of 2.3 million tons invested by Thailand's Siam Cement Group (SCG); Japan-invested Nippon Sanso Vietnam gas factory; and a fertilizer plant invested in by Germany's Behn Meyer Agricare Holdings.