Vietnam publishes new development strategies on domestic chemical industry

On June 16th, 2022, a decision approving Vietnam’s chemical industry development strategy was signed by deputy prime minister Le Van Thanh. 

Under the strategies, new policies, tasks, and measurements are established to implement new goals and evaluate industry’s performance. By 2030, domestic chemical industry will achieve sustainable growth and circular economy goals in an eco-friendly and sustainable manner. 

The chemical industry will be divided into 10 sub-categories, and each sub-category has a different product to be focused on research and development.

• Basic chemicals:  sodium, acid sulfuric, caustic soda flake, yellow phosphorus, thermal acid phosphoric and its derivatives, high economic valued phosphorus products, ammoniac products, nitrate salts, basic organic chemical products, solvents, ammonium nitrate, explosive precursors (dual-use chemicals), etc. 

• Petrochemistry: ammonia, methanol, ethylene, propylene, benzene, xylene, toluene, petrochemical/gasification (from natural gases) products, resin in primary forms, glues, synthetic rubber raw materials such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), purified terephthalic acid (PTA), mono ethylene glycol (MEG), urea-formaldehyde (UF), melamine formaldehyde (MF), polyamide 6, etc. and other certain chemicals, additives and semi-finished products, etc.  

• Technical rubber: driving belts, felts, washers, conveyor belts and technical rubber accessories. 

• Pharmaceutical: antibiotic products; raw materials producing important medicines; extracts from herbal materials and semi-synthetics products from natural compounds. 

• Fertilizers: nitrogenous fertilizer, ammonium sulfate, sodium fertilizers, calcium ammonium nitrate 

• Pesticides: eco-friendly carbamate-based, active ingredients, azole ingredients and their derivatives, pyrethroid and validamycin ingredients pesticides. 

• Paint and Printing inks: resin slabs, filler powder and solvents such as acrylic, epoxy, and polyurethane, and specialized types of filler powder such as kaolin, calcium carbonate, silicon dioxide and high-performance paints such as UV/EB, nano, water-based, etc. 

• Detergent: new detergents and cosmetics that are from natural ingredients and eco-friendly. 

• Industrial gases: high-valued rare gases (Xenon, Krypton), specialty gases (high-purified gases, semiconductor gases, standard and mixed gases); producing hydrogen from renewable energy sources. 

• Electrochemical products: High-grade specialized batteries and cells such as sealed batteries, solid fuel cells, nickel–metal hydride batteries or Li-ion batteries, new-generation batteries used in advanced electronic equipment.