Two Ethylene Plants With Annual Capacity Of 1.4 Million Tons Permanently Shut Down

According to The Korea Economic Daily, Korean ethylene producer Yeochun NCC (YNCC) has decided to permanently shut down its No. 2 and No. 3 naphtha crackers at its Yeosu facility, reducing the company's ethylene production capacity by 60%.

YNCC submitted its restructuring plan to the South Korean government on March 6, including plant closures.Located at the Lishui factoryTwo facilities with annual capacities of 900,000 tons and 500,000 tons, YNCC's ethylene annual capacity will be reduced from 2.3 million tons to about 900,000 tons.

YNCC plans to establish a joint venture with Lotte Chemical at its Yeosu plant by the end of this year. In the joint venture, YNCC’s current shareholders—Hanwha Solutions and DL Chemical—as well as Lotte are each expected to hold one-third of the shares.

The report states that this restructuring, along with the previous integration of the Dasa Industrial Park, marks a significant advancement in the South Korean petrochemical industry's restructuring.

South Korea's goal is to voluntarily cut ethylene production capacity by 2.7 to 3.7 million tons annually. The current total capacity is approximately 14.7 million tons. Lotte has recently agreed to shut down a 1.1 million ton per year cracking unit at its Dangjin plant.