SCG Delays Restart of Vietnam Petrochemical Complex to Mid-2027

Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SCG) has postponed the planned restart of its Long Sơn petrochemical complex in Ho Chi Minh City from late 2026 to mid-2027. Chief Executive Officer Thammasak Sethaudom said the extended shutdown would accelerate a switch from naphtha to ethane imported from the United States. SCG expects the move to bring forward the feedstock conversion by about six months and save more than $250 million in annual production costs once the conversion is complete and operations stabilize.

Siam Cement Group’s Long Sơn petrochemical complex in Vietnam is now expected to restart in mid-2027.（VietVance）

SCG says ethane costs about 40% less than alternative feedstock and will also help reduce reliance on supplies from the Middle East. The complex has been shut down since mid-May 2026. Conflict in the Middle East and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have tightened naphtha supplies and raised import costs. During the shutdown, the project still incurs about 250 million baht in fixed costs each month, including equipment maintenance, preservation and preparations for restarting operations.

The project began commercial operations on September 30, 2024, but halted production in mid-October that year as the global petrochemical market weakened, product prices fell and feedstock costs remained high. It resumed operations on August 20, 2025, then shut down again in mid-May 2026. In 2024, the complex recorded a loss of about 10.3 billion baht, equivalent to approximately $304 million; SCG Chemicals, which oversees the group’s chemicals business, posted a net loss of nearly 8 billion baht, or about $236 million, that year.

SCG also plans to invest an additional $500 million in the project to support the feedstock conversion. Information disclosed in October 2026 showed that the Ho Chi Minh City government had issued instructions concerning an increase in the project’s total investment from $5.6 billion to $6.1 billion. The complex is located in Long Sơn commune, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly part of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province. It has a design capacity of about 1.4 million tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene a year, mainly for use in packaging, consumer goods and other industrial sectors.

Source: VietVance