Lotte Chemical Plant Explosion... Annual 1.1 Million Tons Ethylene Production Disruption

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Soyeon] On the early morning of the 4th, an explosion occurred at the Lotte Chemical Daesan Plant in Seosan-si, Chungnam, causing the shutdown of seven related factories. The suspension of operations at the NCC (Naphtha Cracking Center) plant, which produces ethylene, is expected to disrupt the annual production of 1.1 million tons of ethylene. This accounts for about half of Lotte Chemical's domestic ethylene production.

According to Lotte Chemical, the accident occurred around 3 a.m. during the compression process of the naphtha cracking process for manufacturing ethylene and propylene, and the exact cause of the accident is under investigation.

A Lotte Chemical official stated, "Due to the fire at the Daesan NC plant, production was halted, leading to the shutdown of a total of seven factories, including six connected processes." The seven factories that have stopped operations are NC, BTX (Aromatic - Benzene, Toluene, Xylene), BD (Butadiene), EG (Ethylene Glycol)1, PE (Polyethylene)1, PP (Polypropylene)1, and PP2. The remaining six factories are operating normally.

Lee Doyeon, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said in a report on the same day, "The ethylene production capacity of Daesan NCC accounts for 48% of the total domestic production capacity," and analyzed, "Although vertically integrated products such as PE, PP, and EG can be produced separately from NCC, the practical benefits are limited." According to the report, if internal process equipment explodes, it takes time to purchase, manufacture, and install new equipment, so restarting operations takes about six months or more.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.