MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire broke out on Tuesday at a catalyst plant in LG Chem’s petrochemical complex in the southwestern city of South Korea, leaving one worker dead and two injured, reported Reuters with reference to the company and a fire station official's statements.
The fire, which occurred at LG Chem’s catalyst plant in the southwestern city of Seosan at around 2:25 p.m. (0525 GMT), has been contained, a fire station official from the Seosan Fire Station told Reuters.
LG Chem said the cause of the fire was likely to be spontaneous ignition of powder at the plant, but the company is looking into the exact cause.
In early May, a gas leaked from the South Korean petrochemical maker-owned factory in India, killing more than 10 people and making more than hundreds of people sick. Last week, LG Chem sent a delegation to India to investigate the cause of the incident.
As MRC wrote previously, LG Chem, a South Korean petrochemical major, has reduced its operational rates of its cracker to around 90-95% starting January 2020 due to weaker economic fundamentals. Based in Daesan, South Korea, the cracker is able to produce 1.27 million tons/year of ethylene and 650,000 tons/year of propylene. The company increased capacity utilisation at this cracker to 100% on 10 March, 2020, in order to supply ethylene to Lotte Chemical.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 267,630 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 20% year on year. Homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers accounted for the main decrease in imports.
LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to ICIS report, it is 15th biggest chemical company in the world in 2011. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
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