S Korea’s Hyosung TNC to invest $1bn in Vietnam bio-BDO production

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–South Korea’s Hyosung TNC is investing $1 billion to build multiple bio-textile materials plants in Vietnam’s Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, starting with a new 50,000 tonnes/year bio-butanediol (bio-BDO) plant slated for start-up in 2026.

The company aims to eventually boost its overall bio-BDO production capacity in Vietnam to 200,000 tonnes/year and will be establishing a vertically integrated production system for bio-spandex, from raw material to fiber, the company said in a statement on 2 April.

Hyosung TNC is the fiber production unit of South Korean industrial giant Hyosung Group.

BDO is a chemical used as a raw material for poly tetramethylene glycol (PTMG), which is used to make spandex fiber.

Bio-BDO is produced by fermenting sugars derived from sugarcane, replacing traditional fossil raw materials such as coal.

In addition to spandex fiber, BDO applications include engineering plastics, biodegradable packaging, and footwear soles.

Hyosung TNC will produce bio-BDO at its factory in the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, manufacture PTMG at a nearby factory in Dong Nai, located south of Ho Chi Minh City, and then use this to mass-produce its regen bio-spandex at the Dong Nai Spandex factory.

As of this year, the global sustainable textile and fashion market is valued at around $23 billion, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 12.5%, according to Hyosung TNC.

It is expected to grow to about $75 billion by 2030, including upstream and downstream businesses, it said.

Hyosung TNC plans to increase the sales volume of sustainable spandex, which currently accounts for 4% of its total spandex sales, to about 20% by 2030.

“The bio business will become a core pillar of Hyosung for the next 100 years. We will strengthen our global market presence based on sustainable bio materials,” Hyosung TNC chairman Hyun-Joon Cho said.

The company’s future bio-BDO plants will be powered by technology from Geno, a US-based sustainable materials firm.

Vietnam is the fourth-biggest economy in southeast Asia and is a net importer of petrochemicals.

The southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province is home to the country’s first integrated petrochemical complex, which was recently completed and can produce around 1.4m tonnes/year of polyolefins.

Thumbnail image: At a spandex production site in Asia, 18 March 2024 (Costfoto/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)