$5 billion petrochemical project begins trial run; stricter management of the Price Stabilization Fund.

VietNamNet•30/10/2023

- A petrochemical complex worth over $5 billion is about to begin trial operations.

On the morning of October 30th, Long Son Petrochemical Company Limited (LSP) – the investor of the Long Son petrochemical complex project – announced that the entire complex will begin trial operation starting in November 2023. Commercial operation is expected to commence in early 2024. The Long Son petrochemical complex has a total investment of US$5.1 billion. When operational, the complex will produce approximately 1.4 million tons of plastic pellets annually. This is the input material for the production of many plastic products used in daily life (according to Tuoi Tre newspaper).

- The main fuel distribution enterprise must have an audit report of the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund.

The draft Decree amending Decree 95 and Decree 83 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade adds conditions to tighten the management of the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund (BOG Fund). Accordingly, every six months (before August 15th and February 15th annually), leading enterprises must submit independent audit reports on the BOG Fund to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. (See more)

- Proposal to require part-time workers to also contribute to mandatory social insurance.

"Part-time or hourly workers who receive a monthly salary equal to half of the minimum wage in Region 1 will be subject to mandatory social insurance contributions, with the employee contributing a portion and the employer contributing the other." This proposal has been included in the draft revised Social Insurance Law to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and comments in the coming days (according to Tien Phong newspaper).

- Shipping is experiencing a resurgence.

At the end of the year, despite facing many difficulties in maritime transport, there are many signs indicating that the maritime transport market is gradually improving. According to the Vietnam Maritime Administration ( Ministry of Transport ), in the first 10 months of 2023, the total volume of goods passing through seaports is showing positive changes. Accordingly, the volume of goods passing through seaports is estimated at 624.559 million tons, an increase of 3% compared to the same period in 2022 (according to the Government Newspaper).

- Two former SCB chairmen are wanted by the police.

truy na.jpg — The two wanted individuals are Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Suong and Mr. Dinh Van Thanh.

Regarding the case at Van Thinh Phat Group, the Ministry of Public Security announced that seven individuals are currently wanted, including two former chairpersons of Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB): Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Suong and Mr. Dinh Van Thanh. (See more)

- Mr. Nguyen Dang Quang has been removed from the list of USD billionaires.

Over the past weekend, Forbes stopped updating the real-time net worth of Mr. Nguyen Dang Quang, Chairman of Masan Group. Therefore, Mr. Quang's net worth no longer exceeds $1 billion. The wealth of many Vietnamese tycoons has also decreased significantly during the recent volatile stock market. (See more)

- Billionaire Tran Ba Duong's agricultural company continues to incur losses.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai International Agriculture Joint Stock Company - HAGL Agrico (code: HNG), chaired by billionaire Tran Ba Duong, has just announced its consolidated business results for the third quarter of 2023 with revenue of VND 160 billion, a decrease of 16% compared to the same period last year. Cost of goods sold exceeded revenue, resulting in a gross loss of VND 100 billion, an improvement compared to the loss of VND 182 billion in the third quarter of 2022. This marks the tenth consecutive quarter of losses, with cumulative losses exceeding VND 7,400 billion. (See more)

Novaland unexpectedly reports a profit.

In the third quarter, Novaland Group achieved consolidated revenue of over VND 1,070 billion and after-tax profit of VND 137 billion. However, for the first nine months of this year, Novaland incurred a loss of nearly VND 960 billion (according to Tien Phong newspaper).

- Live pig prices have reversed course and are falling, reaching around 50,000 VND/kg in many areas.

After several upward sessions, live pig prices are trending sharply downward in some localities. As of 3 PM on October 30th, live pig prices were commonly traded around 50,000-52,000 VND/kg (according to Lao Dong newspaper).

Today, October 30th, gasoline and oil prices on the world market are falling, continuing the downward trend of last week. Brent crude oil prices have rapidly dropped below the $90/barrel mark.

Today's gold prices on the international market saw a slight decrease due to the impact of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) maintaining high interest rates. The price of SJC gold bars decreased by 250,000 VND per tael.

On October 30th, the stock market saw the VN-Index plummet, falling 18.22 points to 1,042.4 billion VND. Notably, trading volume on the HoSE exchange reached less than 9,000 billion VND, a new low since the VN-Index peaked at 1,245 points.

The central exchange rate decreased by 10 dong on October 30th . The USD price at commercial banks fell quite sharply today. The global USD price also declined.

On October 30th, another bank , Ban Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank (BVBank), saw a reduction in interest rates, with deposit rates for terms of 12 months or more falling below 6% per year. According to statistics from the beginning of October, 25 banks have reduced their deposit interest rates.

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