Long Son Petrochemicals complex to begin trial run next month

The $5.4 billion Long Son Petrochemicals Complex is set to begin full trial run in November, towards commercial operation in January 2024, a Long Son Petrochemicals Co. (LSP) leader said Monday.

Kulachet Dharachandra, general director of Long Son Petrochemicals (LSP), said once operational, the facility in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province will churn out 1.4 million tons of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) annually.

This would help the domestic plastics industry reduce the material import and become more competitive, he noted in a press meeting to announce the complex operation plan.

The complex will employ around 1,000 people and contribute around VND2.5 trillion ($102 million) annually to the state budget, he added.

It will also facilitate the petrochemical industry and related industries like automobiles, electronics and packaging.

Long Son Petrochemicals has integrated modern technologies and digitalization to reduce negative impacts on the environment and surrounding communities by decreasing emissions, treating wastewater, and lowering unwanted smells, Dharachandra 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.

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

Nghi Son is a $9 billion refinery co-owned by state-run Petrovietnam, Kuwait Petroleum Europe B.V. (KPE), and Japan’s Mitsui Chemical and Idemitsu Kosan Co.

The other complex, better known as Dung Quat Refinery, is a Petrovietnam subsidiary that has received more than $3 billion in investments.