Vietnam’s rapidly expanding plastics market is an attractive proposition to providers of innovative technologies. The country’s plastics market is projected to register a CAGR of more than 10% yearly from 2021-2026, according to Mordor Intelligence. This promising prospect places Vietnam’s plastics industry among the fastest growing in the Southeast Asian region. While the impact of COVID-19 in the first half of 2020 saw work stoppages and slowdown in manufacturing activities, Vietnam has been resilient and production in some sectors have resumed under the new normal.
In terms of industry, Vietnam’s plastics industry continues to supply leading sectors depending on plastics such as packaging, electrical and electronics, construction, automotive, household products, among others. Packaging accounts for around 68% of the plastics market share. The Vietnam Plastics Association (VPA) report places plastic packaging companies at around 460 out of 2,000 plastic companies operating in Vietnam and these packaging companies contribute to over 60% of Vietnam’s yearly export sales.
Aside from packaging, Vietnam’s construction industry is a thriving sector as it accounts for about 25% of plastics industry’s output. As the construction industry recovers and more infrastructure and housing projects get implemented, the demand for plastics as input is expected to rise. Another important industry is automobile production which is being developed as Vietnam aims to become a regional hub for auto production. Car assembly and auto parts production is seeing growth with investments from foreign companies. Overall, sustained high demand from major applications is anticipated to boost demand for plastics in Vietnam in the period 2022-2025. Rising personal consumption, rapid urbanization and the growing middle class are important factors in Vietnam’s plastics market’s development.
Investments spur production activities in key areas
Vietnam has attracted both local and foreign investments into its plastics industry. Some of the biggest plastics producers are supplying the various industries that are dependent on plastics, notably packaging, construction and electronics.
Currently, there are more than 2,000 plastic companies in Vietnam mainly located in Ho Chi Minh City (84%). Domestic plastic companies account for 85% while foreign ones account for only 15% in number but 40% in investment capital. It has been reported that the Vietnamese government is divesting from domestic plastic companies, and foreign investors are likely to take this opportunity to increase their market penetration. In the first 9 months of 2021 alone, foreign investors’ new capital registered in Vietnam amounted to US$22.15 billion, up by 4.4% in the same period the previous year, according to official government statistics.
Many foreign companies, in partnership with local Vietnam-based entities, are pouring large amounts of investments into Vietnam’s plastics manufacturing sector. For instance, in the construction plastics segment, the TienPhong Plastic JSC (NTP) and Binh Minh Plastic JSC (BMP) account for the bulk of the total market share. There are also major companies in Vietnam’s plastics market that are engaged in the production of plastic resins and compounds such as Far Eastern New Century, Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP), Hyosung Chemicals, Billion Industrial Holdings Co. Ltd, and SCG Chemicals Co. Ltd, among others.
Thailand’s SCG Chemicals Co. Ltd has partnered with Thai Plastic and Chemicals Public Company (TPC), Qatar Petroleum International (QPI), and Petro Vietnam in building an integrated petrochemical complex located in Long Son Commune of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. The partnership aims to help SCG to produce and sell plastics to the Vietnamese market. In September 2021, SCG Chemicals announced that it also finalized its purchase of a leading packaging company, Bien Hoa Packaging Joint Stock Co (SOVI). To date, SCG Chemical operates three manufacturing facilities near Ho Chi Minh City, in southern Vietnam. The recent acquisition is expected to expand SCG Chemical’s customer base especially in food & beverage, as well as in FMCG sectors.
In electronics manufacturing, Samsung announced that it is expanding its production in Vietnam by investing in R&D to turn Samsung Vietnam into a major production site for the company. Samsung Vietnam is now building a US$220 million R&D centre in Hanoi with completion by the end of 2022. Samsung has earlier announced its plan to use recycled materials in its Galaxy smartphones, and this will create demand for performance materials.
Another leading company, LG Display, also voiced its confidence into Vietnam despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic. The South Korean company has raised its investment in its Haiphong plant by US$1.4 billion to boost its organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display output to 13 million to 14 million units per month from the present 9.6 million to 10.1 million units. OLED displays, made on plastic substrates, are used in TVs, smartphones and automotive screens.
In food manufacturing, Nestlé Vietnam has committed to invest US$132 million to double the capacity of its Nestlé Tri An factory in the next two years as it aims to transform the Vietnamese market into a world-class supplier of coffee for both domestic and international markets. The Nestlé Tri An factory is one of Nestlé’s largest production facilities in the country, and also one of the Group’s most advanced coffee processing plants in the Asian region. Products from the Nestlé Tri An are being exported to 25 markets worldwide.
Another leading F&B company, Tetra Pak, has expressed confidence in Vietnam with an additional US$5.9 million investment into its US$141.2 million packaging material factory in Binh Duong province. The additional investment will increase the factory’s annual output,from the present 11.5 billion to 16.5 billion packages, to meet rising demand for aseptic packages in Vietnam and regional markets. Tetra Pak’s factory in Vietnam is the first aseptic packaging material factory in the country, placing Vietnam into its supply chain map. The factory’s upgrade also entails the installation of 2,300 solar panels as part of Tetra Pak’s efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its operations by 2030.
Circular economy requirements for more advanced recycling
Another area where opportunities for investors are expected to emerge is recycling. The World Bank has placed Vietnam among the top 4 countries with high volume of plastic waste. At 280,000 tons yearly, the country’s linear economy where the “take-make-dispose” model prevails has contributed to the huge plastic waste pile up. Current estimates placed Vietnam’s total waste at 26 million tons yearly, with 85% going into landfill or about 26 million tons, with alarming effects on the environment.
This has prompted plastics industry of Vietnam to move towards a circular economy as it targets sustainable production in the plastics industry. The circular economy model of “make-use-recycle” promotes waste reduction by recycling, reducing and reusing. Encouraged by the Law on Environmental Protection (LEP) that aims to push manufacturers and suppliers to become more responsible through recycling. In January 2022, the revised LEP provisions took effect putting Vietnam in the realm of circular economy through planning strategies, development plans, waste management, and waste recycling. The order to intensifyrecycling requires investments and more advanced recycling technologies in recycling, granulating, extrusion, etc. to meet the targets.
At CHINAPLAS 2022, applications of plastics in key industries – such as food & beverage, packaging, electronics, automotive, household goods – for Southeast Asian manufacturers will be demonstrated by exhibitors. The exhibition also features important industry and technologyupdates that will benefit Southeast Asian manufacturers as they move towards supplying the international markets.
About CHINAPLAS 2022
CHINAPLAS 2022, one of the most prestigious international plastics and rubber trade fairs, will be held at National Convention and Exhibition Center, Hongqiao, Shanghai, PR China from April 25-28, 2022. The show will gather 4,000+ international exhibitors under one roof and welcome visitors from all around the world to grasp business opportunities generated from the economic recovery. To cope with the fast-changing global sourcing conditions without travelling under the pandemic, overseas buyers are now able to connect with thousands of materials and machines suppliers via CHINAPLAS eMarketplace, a smart efficient integrated, and sustainable online sourcing platform which is complementary to the physical show of CHINAPLAS.
