Samsung Total Petrochemicals completes LPG tank with a storage capacity of 40,000 tonss

31-May-10

South Korea's Samsung Total Petrochemicals has completed a Won 50 billion (US$41.8 million) LPG tank with a storage capacity of 40,000 tons. Samsung Total will use the tank to import 1 million tpa of LPG from October. 600,000 tons of this will be as feedstock, which will reduce consumption of naphtha, while the balance will be resold to local markets. It plans to import 80,000-90,000 mt of LPG per month from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Middle East countries. Petrochemical firms can switch to LPG when prices of the conventional feedstock naphtha are high. Compared with volatile naphtha prices, which move directly in line with crude oil, LPG prices are relatively stable. "With the storage facility, we can ensure stable supplies of LPG and expand our business portfolio," CEO Yoo Suk-Ryul said in a statement. "We can save Won 20 billion a year as we can choose either LPG or naphtha as feedstocks on the basis of market conditions," a company official said