Lotte, Hyundai to Merge Some Petrochem Units to Fight Oversupply

Lotte Chemical and HD Hyundai Chemical agreed to combine part of their naphtha-cracking facilities as South Korea’s top petrochemicals producers respond to a prolonged oversupply and weakening margins.

Lotte Chemical will split its facility at the Daesan petrochemical complex in South Chungcheong Province and fold it into HD Hyundai Chemical’s operations, according to separate statements from Lotte. The two companies had separately operated 1.1-million-ton-a-year and 850,000-ton-a-year units at the same site before Wednesday’s announcement.