Thailand SCG adds 2 vessels for ethane task at $5.2 bln petrochemicals complex in Vietnam

SCG Chemicals (SCGC), under Thailand’s giant Siam Cement Group (SCG), has secured two more vessels for the ethane feedstock enhancement project at its $5.2 billion Long Son Petrochemicals (LSP) complex in Vietnam.

In a recent announcement, SCG said the vessels are classified as very large ethane carriers (VLECs), per a long-term time charter agreement signed between SCG and Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL).

Per the agreement, MOL will provide five VLECs for 15-year logistic service of ethane from the United States to Vietnam to serve LSP’s ethane feedstock project.

SCG Chemicals (SCGC), under SCG, started land preparation for the $5.2 billion Long Son Petrochemicals complex in 2018, started up all utilities in 2022, and conducted a full complex test run in December 2023.

Long Son Petrochemicals in Vietnam's southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau began its commercial operation (COD) in September 2024, with an initial production output of 74,000 tons during the trial phase. At full capacity, the complex’s annual output will include 1.4 million tons of polyethylene and polypropylene.

In October 2024, SCG said LSP complex “temporarily halted operations to manage overall business costs, with plans to reassess operations when conditions are more favorable.”

Also in October 2024, SCG said it will invest an extra $700 million in Long Son Petrochemicals to diversify its production by utilizing ethane imported from the United States as raw material for the complex.

Then in February 2025, SCG updated that it would invest $500 million in the ethane feedstock project at LSP.

In March 2025, SCG said to Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh that it would invest an additional $400 million in its petrochemicals complex for the ethane feedstock project.