South Korean petrochemical producer SK Global Chemical (SKGC) will rebrand itself as SK Geo Centric (SKGC) as it moves to transform its business portfolio to focus more on eco-friendly products such as recyclable plastics.
Under its initial action plan, the company will inject about 5 trillion won (~$4.3 billion) to roll out more eco-friendly materials and increase its plastic recycling capacity to a level equivalent to the production of 900,000 tons of plastics per year over the next four years.
The company will also increase its direct or indirect recycling of plastics to over 2.5 million tons a year by 2027, which covers the full amount of its plastics to be produced domestically and overseas.
SKGC operates a naphtha-fed cracker at Ulsan that produces 680,000 tons per year of ethylene and 350,000 tons per year of propylene. It idled its older, smaller cracker at Ulsan last year after it struggled to stay competitive.
The company also operates 800,000 tons per year of paraxylene (PX) and 650,000 tons per year of benzene capacity at Ulsan, while its Ulsan Aromatics joint venture with Japanese refiner Eneos has a production capacity of 1mn tons per year of PX and 600,000 tons per year of benzene.