President Huh Soo-young of Lotte Chemical Co. 

Lotte Chemical Co. plans to construct a plant for the separation of C5, a high-tech chemical material at the Yeosu Industrial Complex in South Jeolla Province, at the cost of 140 billion won. Construction is slated to be completed in 2016, the company said on March 12.

The chemical company signed an MOU with the South Jeolla Province Administration for its investment in the high-tech material plant.

The plant turns C5 generated in the naphtha cracking process into a high valued material whose demand has been growing in the international market in tune with the global trend for light raw materials.

When completed, the plant will have a capacity to turn out 100,000 tons of C5 annually, which breaks down to 30,000 tons of isoprene monomer, 25,000 tons of disipi and 45,000 tons of piperilen.

Lotte Chemical officials said the company will be able to enter high value-added production by utilizing bi-products from the naphtha cracking process, which is C5. C5, or pentane, is used as a high-function glue, a film for packaging and paints, among others. The product will help diversify the company’s profitability portfolio.

Chemical companies that produce high value-added products from the C5 separation facilities are Exxon-Mobile and JSR of Japan.

Lotte Chemical’s Yeosu, Daesan and Ulsan plants boast the largest scale of domestic and international operations. The company has accomplished vertical systematization with respect to raw materials and products through steady plant and business expansion as well as production of basic petrochemical raw materials and products such as olefin and aromatics. 

Among the high-quality products produced by Lotte Chemical through its efficient processes are ethylene, HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PP, functional resin, EG, SM, PIA, PET, etc. Moreover, the Lotte Chemical Research Institute in Daejeon is establishing a solid foothold in the domestic petrochemical field through the steady development of new products. Lotte Chemical’s products are being distributed to 152 countries around the world. With the acquisition of Pakistan’s PTA in 2009, Artenius in the UK in 2010 and Titan Chemical Corp., Lotte Chemical is now able to efficiently supply excellent products to an increasing number of countries.

The company is further accelerating efforts to strengthen its global competitiveness by establishing overseas branches in Hong Kong, Russia and the U.S., along with the sales corporation in China for active sales activities both in domestic and abroad. As Asia’s top chemical company, Lotte Chemical will become a global chemical company that genuinely cares for the improvement in the quality of humanity and a balance with the environment.