On Oct 1st, 2024, Technip Energies announced that the Long Son Petrochemicals Co., Ltd. (LSP) olefins plant in Long Son Island, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province,  Vietnam, passed its final performance acceptance test.

Technip Energies provided licensing, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, start-up and initial operation for the 1,350,000 tonnes/year cracker. As Vietnam’s first olefins plant, the flexible feed cracker, can utilize both naphtha and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) feeds to produce ethylene, propylene, and butadiene.

The plant successfully started up end 2023 to reach its full capacity shortly after the start-up and pass its first performance test in February 2024. The plant, which broke ground end 2018, includes Technip Energies’ licensed ethylene technology, including Ultra Selective Conversion (USC®) furnaces preferred for high selectivity and low cost, and the Heat-Integrated Rectifier System®, preferred for energy efficient ethylene recovery.

However, Listed Siam Cement Group (SCG), Thailand's largest cement maker and industrial conglomerate, has suspended operations at its Long Son Petrochemicals (LSP) complex in order to cope with high production costs and the impact of a downturn in the global petrochemical market.

The suspension, slated to last for at least six months, began in mid-October, only roughly two weeks after LSP commenced commercial operations on Sept 30, with a production capacity of 74,000 tonnes.

A resumption of operations will mainly depend on the spread, according to SCG.

The petrochemical complex uses naphtha, which is a product of fossil fuels, as a key raw material to produce high density polyethylene (HDPE), but the prices of naphtha are expensive.

"The spread between naphtha and HDPE prices is US$300 per tonne because of a slowdown in the global petrochemical market," said Sakchai Patiparnpreechavud, chief executive and president of SCG Chemicals. "If the spread increases to $400 per tonne, we will consider resuming operations at LSP."

The suspension does not mean SCG Chemicals will stop investing in this petrochemical complex, he said.

SCG Chemicals plans to upgrade LSP, enabling it to use ethane, a colourless, odourless, gaseous hydrocarbon, as a raw material because it is cheaper than naphtha.

Mr Sakchai said the company will spend $700 million on the new investment, especially to build an ethane storage facility.

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