Hyundai Chemical HPC Project Completion... Export Effect Expected to Reach 3.8 Trillion Won

A view of Hyundai Chemical Daesan Plant located in Daesan, Chungnam.
Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] Hyundai Chemical has built the first petrochemical plant in Korea that can utilize low-cost raw materials. The government expects that the plant's cost competitiveness will lead to an export increase effect worth 3.8 trillion KRW.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Vice Minister Park Il-jun attended the completion ceremony of the 'Hyundai Chemical HPC (Heavy Feed Petrochemical Complex) Project' held on the morning of the 12th at Hyundai Oilbank's Daesan plant located in Daesan, Chungnam. The ceremony was attended by Vice Minister Park, Seong Il-jong, a member of the People Power Party, Kim Tae-heum, Governor of Chungnam Province, Kwon Oh-gap, Chairman of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, and others. Vice Minister Park said, "Hyundai Chemical is a representative case where the refining and petrochemical industries cooperate to combine the strengths of each sector," adding, "Through the completion of the HPC project, the competitiveness of the domestic petrochemical industry has been further strengthened."

The HPC project is the only petrochemical plant in Korea that can use low-cost raw materials such as heavy oil fractions and by-product gases. It has the advantage of maximizing cost competitiveness compared to existing petrochemical plants that use naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as raw materials. It is the second time a private company has completed a petrochemical plant that can use low-cost raw materials, following Shell, a global energy company with six plants in the United States, the Netherlands, and other countries.

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(Seoul=Yonhap News) On September 3rd, in preparation for the northward approach of Typhoon Hinnamnor, Park Il-jun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, made an urgent visit to the Ulsan Thermal Power Plant operated by Korea East-West Power to inspect the typhoon preparedness measures. 2022.9.3 [Provided by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Redistribution and DB use prohibited]
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The economic effect is significant. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expects the HPC project to export about 1.15 million tons of petrochemical products annually. The export increase effect is expected to reach approximately 3.8 trillion KRW.

Vice Minister Park emphasized the government's commitment to regulatory innovation in the petrochemical sector. He stated, "The government will support the industry's investments and efforts to bear fruit through bold regulatory innovations, such as the regulatory sandbox demonstration exception for pyrolysis oil from waste plastics." Hyundai Oilbank and Hyundai Chemical are currently utilizing pyrolysis oil from waste plastics as a refining process raw material under the regulatory sandbox demonstration exception. This is because the current Petroleum Business Act stipulates that petrochemical companies can only use petroleum as raw materials for refining processes.

Vice Minister Park also urged the petrochemical industry to make efforts to stabilize energy supply and demand. He said, "With the large-scale production cuts decided by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)+ on the 5th, oil prices are rising again," adding, "The government plans to respond fully to ensure there is no disruption in domestic energy supply, and we ask the industry to work hard to stabilize prices and supply."

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