LG Chem Restarts Yeosu No.2 NCC Following Six‑Month Outage
LG Chem’s 900 000‑tonne‑per‑annum Yeosu No.2 Naphtha Cracking Center (NCC No.2), which had been offline since March 23, restarted on October 12, as disclosed in the company’s regulatory filing dated October 8.
Generating annual sales of 2.49 trillion South Korean won, the facility accounts for 5.09 % of the group’s total revenue. LG Chem noted it will ramp up operations quickly once feedstock supply stabilises to minimise disruptions to production and sales.
As a critical upstream supply hub for the polyolefin chain, the unit was forced to shut down amid naphtha supply disruptions stemming from US‑Iran conflicts. It produces roughly 800 000 tonnes of ethylene and 400 000 tonnes of propylene per year via high‑temperature naphtha cracking. The cracker converts naphtha into basic olefins, which downstream polymerisation units turn into various polyolefin grades. Its prolonged outage cut feedstock for derivatives such as PE and PP, sending ripples through end‑market manufacturing for plastics, films and packaging materials.
BASF commissions MDI expansion at its North‑American integrated site
On October 5, BASF announced the successful start‑up of its MDI capacity‑expansion project at the Geismar integrated site in Louisiana, USA.
Following the expansion, the site’s MDI capacity doubles to 600 000 tonnes per annum from the original 300 000 tonnes. With a total investment of around USD 1 billion, this represents BASF’s largest investment project in North America.
Besides Geismar in the US, BASF runs MDI production assets in Antwerp (Belgium), Chongqing and Caojing Shanghai (China), and Yeosu (South Korea). Its combined global MDI capacity stands at 2.27 million tonnes per annum, ranking second worldwide.
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Post time: Oct-14-2026