Vietnam’s first petrochemical complex project advances

March 10, 2017
Siam Cement Public Co. Ltd. (SCG) subsidiary Vina SCG Chemicals Co. Ltd. (VSCG) has entered a share purchase agreement with Qatar Petroleum International Ltd. (QPI) to acquire all of subsidiary QPI Vietnam Ltd.’s (QPIV) 25% equity stake in Long Son Petrochemical Co. Ltd.’s (LSP) long-delayed project to build Vietnam’s first petrochemical complex on Long Son Island in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria Province, about 100 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City.

Siam Cement Public Co. Ltd. (SCG) subsidiary Vina SCG Chemicals Co. Ltd. (VSCG) has entered a share purchase agreement with Qatar Petroleum International Ltd. (QPI) to acquire all of subsidiary QPI Vietnam Ltd.’s (QPIV) 25% equity stake in Long Son Petrochemical Co. Ltd.’s (LSP) long-delayed project to build Vietnam’s first petrochemical complex on Long Son Island in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria Province, about 100 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City (OGJ Online, Oct. 9, 2009).

Valued at $36.1 million, the equity transaction will increase SCG’s total ownership interest in the LSP project to 71% from its previous 46% stake held through subsidiaries VSCG 28% and Thai Plastic & Chemicals Public Co. Ltd. (TPC) 18%, SCG said.

The QPIV buyout follows QPI’s 2015 notification to fellow LSP shareholders VSCG, TPC, and Vietnam’s state-owned PetroVietnam and Vinachem 29% of Qatar’s intention to withdraw from the project, according to a Nov. 13, 2015, release from SCG.

SCG said it plans to reach financial investment decision on the estimated $4.5-billion LSP project by the end of this year’s first half, which if approved, will begin a 3-4-year construction period for a proposed startup date sometime in 2021.

As currently planned, LSP’s complex would include a 1 million-tonne/year flexible-feed cracker capable of switching between ethane, propane, and naphtha feedstock to produce about 1.6 million tpy of ethylene depending on the feedstock mix, SCG said.

In a series of presentations during 2013-16, PetroVietnam told investors the new complex—which will be fully integrated with supporting infrastructure that includes a deep-sea port, jetty, storage installations, power plant, and other utilities—also would be equipped to produce 450,000-468,000 tpy of polypropylene, 450,000 tpy of high-density polyethylene, 500,000 tpy of linear low-density polyethylene, and 400 tpy of vinyl chloride monomer.

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].