Sabeco, Vietnam’s leading beer producer and controlled by Thai Beverage, is sticking to its 2020 plan to expand capacity at its Cu Chi brewery despite repeated regulatory delays.
Sabeco is seeking approval to raise the HCMC-based plant’s annual capacity to 350 million liters from 264 million liters with an investment of Dong 855 billion (US$32.4 million).
The brewer first submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report in 2020, but it was returned for revisions. The plan was shelved during the pandemic before being resubmitted again but rejected in 2023 and in 2025.
The 50-hectare Cu Chi facility, designed in 2002 and completed in 2007, currently produces about 264 million liters annually, including 118 million liters of bottled beer and 146 million liters of canned beer. The proposed expansion will lift canned beer output to 250 million liters while reducing bottled production to 100 million liters.
Actual output has consistently fallen short of design capacity, with 179 million liters produced in 2023 and 167 million liters in 2024. Production is expected to recover to 211 million liters in 2025, the company said.
Sabeco expects to secure the investment approval in the 4th quarter of 2025, with construction starting in 2026/2027.
