Lotte Chemical considers raising Yeosu naphtha cracking center capacity
SEOUL (Reuters) -- Lotte Chemical Corp said on Friday it's considering raising output capacity at its Yeosu naphtha cracking center, confirming comments by South Korea's energy ministry, as Seoul urges petrochemical firms to boost competitiveness amid growing competition from China.
A Lotte Chemical spokesman said the company is considering the expansion, but no specifics have been decided. The unit currently has a total capacity of 1 MMtpy of ethylene.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement on Friday that Lotte Chemical was considering the move with an aim to begin construction in first-half 2017, without saying by how much it might raise capacity.
In October, LG Chem Ltd, South Korea's largest chemical company, said it would invest about $260 million to increase production capacity of its Daesan plant by 230,000 tpy to 1.27 MMtpy of ethylene by 2019.
Reporting by Jane Chung; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell
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