Vietnam plastics industry expects 4% export growth in 2024

Vietnamese plastic producers need to focus on making recycled products, improving technology and promoting sustainable development to hit the export growth target of 4% this year, said experts.

The total export value of plastic products in 2023 hit $5.2 billion, and the 2024 figure is expected to increase by about 4% to $5.5 billion, said Huynh Thi My, general secretary of the Vietnam Plastics Association (VPA), adding that plastic exports showed positive signs in the first two months of the year.

“The export markets have set more stringent requirements regarding environmental factors, carbon credits, and recycling technology. This is forcing domestic plastic businesses to adapt and improve to secure stable orders amid increasingly fierce competition," she noted.

According to the VPA representative, there are nearly 4,000 plastic businesses across the country, of which small- and medium-sized enterprises account for 90%. In the challenging 2023, Vietnam's plastic export turnover reached $5.2 billion, down 5.7% compared to 2022. The country imported 6.8 million tons of plastic materials, a year-on-year fall of 4.2%. The industry’s revenue last year hit $25 billion, down about 0.7% over 2022.

My noted that plastic pollution and reducing the use of virgin plastic while increasing the use of recycled plastic globally will create many business opportunities as well as challenges for the industry.

Promoting recycling, sustainable development

According to My, the VPA will act as a bridge for domestic producers to have better access to international partners, equipment, and technology to help them find orders and promote production.

“Businesses themselves also need to look for new technologies and new materials that are suitable and environmentally friendly to meet the trend of circular economic development, towards sustainability,” she said.

Doan Van Tung, CEO of Ho Chi Minh City-based IGREEN Development Technology JSC, shared that his company is applying IGREEN biodegradable plastic granulation technology, which is the latest method of creating environmentally friendly plastic granules. This technology also meets the standards and credits of countries around the world such as EN 13432 and ASTM D6400.

Duy Tan Plastic Recycling JSC, a big name in the plastics industry, does not stand outside the trend. Le Anh, director of sustainable development at the company, told the press that plastic recycling is nothing new in Vietnam. However, with old technologies, recycled plastic products still pose the risk of polluting air and water sources.

This has prompted Duy Tan to invest in building the first factory in Vietnam to apply "Bottle to Bottle" technology, in which each used plastic bottle is recycled into plastic pellets to produce new bottles, helping reduce the use of raw fossil materials, he said.

The Duy Tan plastic factory, where construction started in June 2019, covers 65,000 square meters in the Duc Hoa Ha Plastic Industrial Cluster in the Mekong Delta province of Long An.

The factory has a current production capacity of 30,000 tons per year, which will be raised to 60,000 tons, equivalent to 4.6 billion bottles recycled a year, after the second phase is completed.

Le Anh held that the recycling industry in Vietnam has started to take shape, demonstrated by the gathering of paper, metal, glass and plastic recycling associations, bringing expectations of a greener, cleaner environment. However, waste classification at source is still not well implemented in Vietnam or other Southeast Asian nations.

Data from Future Market Insight shows that the size of Vietnam's plastic market is estimated at 10.92 million tons in 2024 and 16.36 million tons in 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.44% during the period.

The 11th International Plastics & Rubber Technologies & Materials Exhibition for Vietnam (Plastics & Rubber Vietnam 2024) is being organized in Ho Chi Minh City by Informa Market Vietnam in partnership with Messe Düsseldorf Asia from March 13-15.

A representative of the Vietnam Plastics Association assessed that this is an important opportunity for businesses to access the modern equipment and technologies from leading global corporations, build business partnerships, and catch up on the latest trends and knowledge.