LyondellBasell Announces Successful Startup of 400 KTPA PP Facility in South Korea

On June 8^th, LyondellBasell announced the commissioning of Ulsan PP Co. Ltd.’s 400 KTPA Polypropylene (PP) production facility. The facility is located in the southeastern port city of Ulsan, South Korea. This project is one of the largest projects of its kind in Asia. Ulsan PP Co., Ltd., is a joint venture between PolyMirae Company Ltd., (a 50:50 JV of LyondellBasell and DL Chemical) and SK Advanced. The facility uses LyondellBasell’s fifth generation Spheripol PP process technology. Under the joint venture agreement, PolyMirae will be taking care of all the selling operations of the production facility to the customers throughout Asia.

Most of the global markets were affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic but due to surging demand of packaged food products and other packaging applications during the pandemic, the demand of polypropylene remained strong throughout the pandemic in Asia. Now with the global economy recovering as well, the timing for the project would not have been better.

SK Advanced is a joint venture between Korea's SK Gas, Saudi Arabia's APC and Kuwait's PIC, a subsidiary of Kuwait's state-run oil company, Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC).  PolyMirae is a 50:50 joint venture between DL Chemical and LyondellBasell. DL Chemical is a leading petrochemical company with more than 46 years of operational experience and unique technological know-how based in Korea.