Ssangyong ventures into styrene

09 December 1996 00:00  [Source: ACN]

SSANGYONG Oil Refining plans to produce 300 000 tonne/year of styrene in Ulsan, South Korea. It is also considering investing in purified terephthalic acid (PTA) production.

Construction of the US$157.5m styrene project will begin next month, to be completed in June 1998.

Benzene feedstock will come from Ssangyong's aromatics facility, which is due to come onstream next October. The unit, which has a 600 000 tonne/year paraxylene capacity, will produce over 100 000 tonne/year of benzene (ACN 24 June, p20). Ssangyong will purchase ethylene to feed the aromatics unit.

'Since we have the benzene, we need to find some use for it, so we decided to invest in styrene,' a company official said.

He said the current poor styrene market will not impact the investment. 'We don't care about the present market situation, and believe we will compete well in Asia. We've enough feedstock, advanced technology and a rich store of experience,' he said.

Ssangyong's sudden announcement of its styrene investment has surprised the country's petrochemical industry, especially since the refining sector is expected to see huge losses this year.

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