Lotte Chemical to invest $47.1 mn to ramp up PIA production

Lotte Chemical Corp. will invest 50 billion won ($47.1 million) to add production facilities for high value-added purified isophthalic acid (PIA), a move that is expected to nearly double the PIA output of the Korean company to cement its world’s top rank in the field.

Lotte Chemical said on Monday its board approved the 50 billion won investment plan to ramp up its production facilities for PIA in Ulsan, South Gyeongsang Province. PIA is the raw material of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and unsaturated resins. Only seven makers across the world can currently produce it, and the Korean producer has dominated the global market since 2014.

Following the addition, Lotte Chemical’s PIA production capacity is expected to jump from 460,000 tons to 840,000 tons. The added facilities will also house facilities that can manufacture purified terephthalic acid, a company official said, adding that an increase in output of the two high-value added products would help the company improve profitability and price competitiveness. The company aims to complete its construction by the second half of next year.

Lotte Chemical has been aggressively expanding its output at home and abroad. It has been constructing an ethane cracking center and ethylene glycol factory in Louisiana, the United States, with an aim to kick off operations within this year. It has become the first Korean chemical company that is building production facilities in the U.S. The company is also mulling adding a naphtha cracking center in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province in Korea.

Shares of Lotte Chemical Monday closed 1.52 percent up at 400,500 won from the previous session.

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