韩国政府最终批准丽水石化重组，乙烯产能削减约40%

The government has given final approval to a business restructuring plan for major companies within the Yeosu National Industrial Complex, Korea's largest petrochemical industrial park. The core of the plan is to reduce the ethylene production capacity of participating companies by about 40% (1.39 million tons), from 3.52 million tons to 2.13 million tons, while installing a new growth engine through a shift toward high-value-added and eco-friendly products. Amid assessments that the industry's voluntary restructuring has entered full swing, the Ulsan industrial complex remains the "final piece" of the petrochemical overhaul.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on the 22nd that it had approved the final version of the Yeosu industrial complex petrochemical business restructuring plan submitted by four companies: Yeocheon NCC (naphtha cracking center), Lotte Chemical (011170.KS), Hanwha Solutions (009830.KS), and DL Chemical, a unit of DL (000210.KS). It marks the second approval case, following the first restructuring project within the Daesan petrochemical industrial complex announced in February this year.
The restructuring plan centers on additionally closing Yeocheon NCC's Plant 2 (920,000 tons) — in addition to Plant 3 (470,000 tons), whose operations have already been halted — among Yeocheon NCC's Plants 1 through 3 (2.29 million tons in total), and combining the remaining Plant 1 with Lotte Chemical's Yeosu plant to establish an integrated corporation. Lotte Chemical, which previously participated in the Daesan complex restructuring, will maintain its 1.23-million-ton NCC in the Yeosu region. An NCC is a key facility that heats naphtha extracted from crude oil at high temperatures to produce ethylene and other basic raw materials for plastics.
The integration is designed as a structure in which Hanwha Solutions and DL Chemical, which each hold half of Yeocheon NCC, contribute in kind their business divisions such as polyethylene (PE) and resins for adhesives and coatings, while Lotte Chemical's Yeosu plant spins off its basic materials businesses including NCC, PE, and polypropylene (PP) as a physical division to be combined. Lotte, Hanwha, and DL will each hold a 33.3% stake in the newly established integrated corporation. "The operating profit, which has recorded losses, will turn to a surplus after the three-year restructuring period, and the debt ratio will also decrease significantly," a MOTIE official said.
Notably, Hanwha Solutions and DL Chemical will simultaneously carry out self-rescue efforts totaling 800 billion won, including repaying Yeocheon NCC's existing debt through a 545 billion won rights offering (272.5 billion won each) and investing 253.2 billion won in infrastructure construction and high-value-added transitions.
The government plans to prepare a customized support package worth 700 billion won to ensure the plan proceeds without setbacks. First, creditor financial institutions will support 450 billion won in new funding as well as repayment deferrals on agreement-based debt for facility integration and high-value-added transitions. The Korea Trade Insurance Corporation will also provide 200 billion won in support, including import insurance premium discounts of up to 30% and preferential guarantee limits of up to twice the usual level.
In addition, the government has decided to significantly ease the unavoidable tax burden. For corporate tax, it will expand the taxation deferral period when assets are sold, and for local taxes, it will grant a 75-100% reduction in acquisition tax and registration license tax. It also separately offered incentives worth more than 34 billion won to promote research and development (R&D). Furthermore, the government will apply zero tariffs on imported naphtha and crude oil for naphtha manufacturing until the end of this year, and temporarily ease regulations prohibiting overlapping heat supply zones during the restructuring period, helping cut costs by 15.6 billion won. The government will also review whether to designate employment crisis areas if necessary.
The petrochemical industry believes the restructuring has created conditions allowing companies to focus on securing future growth engines centered on high-value-added and eco-friendly products. However, the restructuring within the Ulsan industrial complex, which the government has repeatedly urged, has yet to find a breakthrough. Incentives for voluntary restructuring have weakened following a recent rebound in earnings, and there are significant differences among companies over facility reductions. In particular, the situation grew more complicated after S-OIL's Shaheen Project, in which more than 9 trillion won was invested, completed mechanical construction late last month.
The government is urging the Ulsan complex to participate in restructuring to resolve the domestic petrochemical oversupply and restore industrial competitiveness. "Restructuring is needed in which all industrial complexes participate without free riders," MOTIE Vice Minister Moon Shin-hak stressed on the same day. "We will also swiftly push forward discussions on restructuring in the Ulsan region."