SEOUL — In expectation of growth in infrastructure demand in Asia, South Korea’s Lotte Chemical will boost ethylene output to become the world’s seventh-largest player by capacity by the end of 2018.
Ethylene is produced through naphtha cracking and is a basic raw material used to make plastics, chemical fibers and other petrochemical items.Lotte Chemical ethylene
The first step will see the chemical giant spend about 300 billion won ($254 million) to add a production facility with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons at its plant in Yeosu in the south of the country, raising its overall capacity to 1.2 million tons. Construction work at the facility will start in the first half of 2017 with completion scheduled for the end of 2018. The company has set 2019 as the target for full-scale commercial production.
Combined with its plant in Seosan, the new facility will bring Lotte’s total domestic output capacity to 2.3 million tons, surpassing LG Chem, South Korea’s largest chemical company.Lotte Chemical ethylene
Lotte will also raise capacity at its ethylene production bases outside the country.
In Malaysia, it plans to increase capacity by 13% to 810,000 tons by the end of 2017. Operations at the shale-gas derived ethylene plant — a joint venture with the U.S. chemical maker Axiall — in Louisiana are slated to begin by the end of 2018. Capacity at the plant is expected to reach 1 million tons. The company has a capacity of 390,000 tons in Uzbekistan.
