$5 billion petrochemical project tested; tighten management of Stabilization Fund

- Petrochemical complex worth more than 5 billion USD is about to start trial operation

On the morning of October 30, Long Son Petrochemical Company Limited (LSP) - the investor of the Long Son petrochemical complex project - said that starting from November 2023, the entire complex will be put into trial operation. It is expected to be put into commercial operation in early 2024. The Long Son petrochemical complex has a total investment of 5.1 billion USD. When put into operation, the complex will produce about 1.4 million tons of plastic pellets per year. This is the input material for the production of many plastic products used in daily life (according to Tuoi Tre).

- The key enterprise must have an audit report of the Petroleum 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 Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund (BOG Fund). Accordingly, every 6 months (before August 15 and February 15 every year), the focal enterprise shall send an independent audit report on the BOG Fund to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. (See more)

- Proposal for part-time workers to also pay compulsory social insurance

“Employees who are hired to work part-time or by the hour, but receive a monthly salary equal to half of the minimum wage in region 1, will be subject to compulsory social insurance, in which the employee must pay a part and the employer must pay a part.” This proposal has been included in the Draft Law on Social Insurance Amendment to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and comments in the next few days (according to Tien Phong).

- Sea transport grows again

At the end of the year, although maritime transport still faces many difficulties, there are many signs 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 a positive trend. Accordingly, the volume of goods passing through seaports is estimated at 624.559 million tons, an increase of 3% over the same period in 2022 (according to the Government Newspaper).

- Two former SCB Chairmen wanted

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

Regarding the case that occurred at Van Thinh Phat Group, the Ministry of Public Security said that there are 7 wanted subjects, including 2 former Chairmen of Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB). They are Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Suong and Mr. Dinh Van Thanh. (See more)

- Mr. Nguyen Dang Quang leaves the list of USD billionaires

Over the weekend, Forbes stopped updating the real-time assets of Nguyen Dang Quang, Chairman of Masan Group. Thus, Quang's assets are no longer worth $1 billion or more. The wallets of many Vietnamese tycoons have also dropped sharply during the recent stock market turmoil. (See more)

- Billionaire Tran Ba Duong's agricultural company continues to suffer 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, down 16% over the same period last year. The cost of goods sold was higher than revenue, so the company suffered a gross loss of VND 100 billion, an improvement from the loss of VND 182 billion in the third quarter of 2022. This is the 10th consecutive quarter of loss, with an accumulated loss exceeding VND 7,400 billion. (See more)

- Novaland unexpectedly reports profit

In the third quarter, Novaland Group achieved consolidated revenue of more than VND1,070 billion and after-tax profit of VND137 billion. However, in the first 9 months of this year, Novaland lost nearly VND960 billion (according to Tien Phong).

- Pig price has turned to decrease, many places down to 50,000 VND/kg

After several sessions of increase, the price of live pigs is showing a downward trend in some localities. As of 3:00 p.m. on October 30, the price of live pigs was commonly traded around 50,000-52,000 VND/kg (according to Lao Dong).

Today, October 30, the price of gasoline and oil on the world market decreased following the decline of last week. Brent oil price quickly slipped below the 90 USD/barrel mark.

Gold prices today on the international market decreased slightly due to the impact of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) maintaining high interest rates. SJC gold bar prices today decreased by 250,000 VND/tael.

The stock market session on October 30 recorded the VN-Index plummeting, down 18.22 points to VND1,042.4 billion. Notably, the order matching liquidity on the HoSE floor only reached less than VND9,000 billion, a new low since the VN-Index peaked at 1,245 points.

The central exchange rate on October 30 decreased by 10 VND . The USD price at commercial banks today decreased quite sharply. The world USD price also decreased.

Bank interest rates on October 30 recorded another reduction, which was the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (BVBank), in which all terms of 12 months or more simultaneously reduced deposit interest rates to below 6%/year. According to statistics from the beginning of October, 25 banks have reduced deposit interest rates.

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