Hyundai Chemical has completed the construction of a heavy-feed petrochemical complex (HPC) in South Korea that involved an investment of around KRW3 trillion ($2.1bn).
The heavy-feed petrochemical complex is located in Daesan, South Chungcheong Province, nearly 90km southwest of the South Korean capital city Seoul.
Founded in 2014, Hyundai Chemical is a 60:40 joint venture between Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Chemical.
Lotte Chemical vice chairman Kim Kyo-hyun, has been quoted by the Business Korea publication, as saying: “The HPC project is a large-scale petrochemical investment that further maximizes synergies based on strong trust between Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Chemical.
“I’m sure that this project will be a good example where two companies of different industries boost their business competitiveness and further contribute to the national economy through strategic alliance.”
The heavy-feed petrochemical complex has been built on a 660,000m2 site within Hyundai Oilbank’s Daesan petrochemical project.
In contrast to conventional naphtha cracking centers which use liquified petroleum gas and naphtha as feedstock, heavy-feed petrochemical complexes can use low-cost base materials like residual oil and by-product gas.
Hyundai Chemical is aiming to produce 850,000 tons of ethylene alongside 500,000 tons of propylene per annum from its new petrochemical complex. Around 1,500 jobs are expected to be created by the downstream project, which broke ground in March 2018.
Hyundai Oilbank revealed plans of producing polyethylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), polypropylene, and other chemical products at the new complex.
According to the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, the heavy-feed petrochemical complex will boost the cost competitiveness of Hyundai Chemical as well as the petrochemical industry in the country as a whole.
