Lotte Chemical on March 4 suspended the operation of nine plants following an explosion at its Daesan Complex in Daesan-eup, Seosan County, South Chungcheong Province, Business Korea reported.
The accident is expected to have an impact on the ethylene market. Lotte Chemical produces 4.5 million ton per year of ethylene annually at home and abroad. Daesan Plant accounts for 1.1 million ton per year, about 24.4% of its total ethylene output. Securities firms believe that Daesan Plant accounts for 0.6% of the global ethylene market and 2.3% of the Northeast Asian ethylene market.
The 150,000 ton per year butadiene (BD) plant at the site was also taken offline and may remain shut for a month.
The company’s 250,000 ton per year monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit was also shut following the explosion.
The other suspended plants included benzene toluene xylene (BTX), styrene, ethylene glycol (EG) 1, polyethylene (PE) 1, polyfluoropropylene (PP) 1 and PP 2 plants. Lotte Chemical did not mention on resume of the operation of the suspended plants. Market analysts believe that the resume of operations may take more than a month.