Hyundai Oilbank subsidiaries to invest US$221 mln in expansion of mixed xylene, paraxylene capacity

09-Jul-19

Hyundai Oilbank Co. plans to invest US$221 mln (260 billion won) towards petrochemicals production expansion by June 2020. Its affiliate Hyundai Chemical Co. will invest 100 billion won to expand production of mixed xylene to 1.4 mln tons from 1.2 mln tpa. Xylene is a core material for BTX (benzene, toluene and xylenes). This is a 60:40 joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank and South Korea's Lotte Chemical.

Its subsidiary Hyundai Cosmo Petrochemical Co. will pump in 160 billion won to increase paraxylene output to 1.36 mln tons from 1.28 mln tpa. This a joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank and Japan's Cosmo Oil.

Last month, Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Chemical reached final agreement on plans for Hyundai Chemical to build a new W2.7 trillion petrochemical plant in Daesan. The complex will be fed by heavy fuel oil and have a capacity to produce 750,000 tpa of ethylene, 750,00 tpa of polyethylene and 400,000 tpa of polypropylene. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2021. By 2022, after the new olefins operation comes on stream, Hyundai Oilbank expects to generate half of its operating profit from petrochemicals, up from around 25% currently