Published on May 28, 2016
South Korea based Lotte Chemical is celebrating the completion of its project in Uzbekistan. Lotte Chemical now became the first firm to have constructed a mega-sized petrochemical complex, as big as 140 soccer fields put together, in Central Asia.
It completed building the petrochemical processing plant in September last year and started with commercial production in January 2016.
The complex is located about 1,300 kms northwest of Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent and also nearby the Surgil gas field, making it possible to acquire methane gas to process high-density polyethylene and polypropylene at low production cost.
The high-density polyethylene is used to make industrial pipes and cables, and polypropylene to make fabrics and clothes. Lotte Chemical’s new petrochemical complex has high logistics cost, but it expects low production cost can compensate the disadvantage. “The products from Uzbekistan plant will be competitive enough if the international oil price stays over $40,” assured Huh Soo-young, Lotte Chemical president and chief executive officer after the completion of the Uzbekistan petrochemical plant last year.
