Plastics sector breaks the mould in self-sufficiency drive

Path to self-sufficiency

“Once the plant is operational, domestic plastics producers could save millions of dollars on raw materials,” VSPA President Tran Cong Hoang Quoc Trang said last week.
“We need to build this plant to stop Vietnam from having to import all its raw materials for plastics production.”
Vietnam imports an average of 100,000 tonnes of hi-tech resin each year, according to the VSPA. The resin is used in the production of CDs, DVDs and other products.
“Louisiana Polymer’s support for our plan will quickly turn the project into a reality.”
The agreement between the two companies was reached late last month during VSPA’s US trade tour. It was decided the plant would be located in the Duc Hoa Ha industrial park, already home to several plastics manufacturing plants.
“The company will send a group of experts to Ho Chi Minh City next month to further analyse the project,” Trang said.
Vietnam will need millions of dollars to build more plants to produce raw materials including hi-tech resin, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polpolyethylene and polypropylene, he said. Around 950,000 tonnes of the materials are imported every year, according to the VSPA.
“Construction of additional raw material production plants is needed to make the industry more competitive in the context of world integration,” Trang said.
The country already has three plants producing PVC and diocthyphthalate (DOP) plastics. TPC Vina Plastic & Chemical, and the Phu My Plastics Company produce 200,000 tonnes of PVC plastic annually, and the LG Vina Chemical Plant produces 30,000 tonnes of DOP.
VSPA is also behind the $200-million Duc Hoa Ha industrial park and urban complex – which is to accommodate around 100 local plastic and rubber manufacturers – and a separate $250-million project to produce 350,000 tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene from natural gas in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
Trang said the first 20 factories in the Duc Hoa Ha complex would be operational by the end of the year.
The park is the first of its kind in the south.
The Ba Ria-Vung Tau petro-chemical gas project is to be housed in the Khi Thap Ap industrial zone and will source gas from the Dinh Co plant.