LG Chem to add ethylene production to Daesan plant at an outlay of US$260

17-Oct-16

LG Chem Ltd, South Korea's largest chemical company will spend 287 billion won (US$257.46 million) to add ethylene production to its Daesan naphtha plant by 2019, aiming to focus on lucrative items, as per Reuters.
The company plans to increase the production capacity of its Daesan plant by 230,000 tons to 1.27 mln tons over the next three years. LG Chem's investment comes after the Korean government called for restructuring in the petrochemical industry as oversupply woes and increasing competition from China put pressure on Korean companies. In line with the government's plan, the company said the decision was made to secure raw materials needed for high value-added products and maintain its lead in the market.

The expansion will increase LG Chem's total ethylene output capacity to 2.43 mln tons, together with its Yeosu plant. The company stated it will convert one of its two polystyrene (PS) production lines at the Yeosu Plant into high value-added acrolonitrile, butadiene and styrene (ABS) by H1-2017, as the government urged to streamline oversupplied products such as PS in a bid to enhance competitiveness.