Vietnam’s Long Son starts up PE, PP plants

Vietnam's Long Son is expected to start up its polyolefins plants from this week, after restarting its mixed-feed cracker, which can produce up to 950,000 t/yr of ethylene and 400,000 t/yr of propylene, last week.

The producer has started up its new 500,000 t/yr high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plant and new 400,000 t/yr polypropylene (PP) plant from early this week and both plants are likely to be producing on-specification products, according to sources close to the company. Its new 500,000 t/yr linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant is expected to start up within the week as well.

The producer began offering prime-grade HDPE film and PP raffia supplies to domestic Vietnamese and export markets for September shipment on 20 August, according to market sources.

The start-up of Long Son's PE and PP plants is expected to add supply length and exert pressure on regional prices.

Argus assessed the southeast Asian duty-free HDPE film prices at $990-1,010/t cfr southeast Asia on 16 August, unchanged from the previous week. The southeast Asian duty-free PP raffia prices were at $970-990/t cfr southeast Asia on the same assessment week, down by $20/t from the previous week.

Long Son shut its cracker and downstream derivative units to address equipment issues on 21 February. The producer was previously expected to restart its petrochemical complex in June, but later delayed its start-up to August.

By Yee Ying Ang