■Two companies enter into ‘PTA Work Agreement’ and LOTTE Chemical and Hanwha General Chemical agree to purchase 450,000 ton PTA annually
■Case of mutual cooperation between competitors in the petrochemical industry, expanding domestic chemical industry competitiveness through the development of cooperative relations instead of competing
■LOTTE Chemical converts existing PTA equipment into PIA production line to solidify its position as first place for PIA global share
■Hanwha General Chemical leads domestic and foreign PTA market based on its competitiveness in the PTA business for the past 40 years
 
LOTTE Chemical and Hanwha General Chemical teamed up to strengthen their business competitiveness and to promote the local economy.
 
The two companies announced that they entered into a business agreement related to the supply of PTA((Purified Terephthalic Acid), which is an intermediate material of synthetic fibers and PET bottles, at the Seoul The Plaza Hotel.
 
LOTTE Chemical agreed to receive 450,000 tons of PTA products per year through Hanwha General Chemical from July of this year. Hanwha General Chemical is scheduled to reactivate Ulsan Plant No. 2 PTA Production Equipment that has been idle, to supply the materials.
 
This agreement is a case to expand profitability and business competitiveness through the voluntary cooperation of the two companies, who are competitors in the petrochemical industry, and it is meaningful in that they came together for the bigger goal of developing the domestic chemical industry.
 
LOTTE Chemical plans to stop activation of the 600,000 ton per annum PTA plant within the Ulsan Plant from July of this year and transform the facilities to produce PIA to further strengthen its business competitiveness. PIA is a product used as the raw material for PET, paints, unsaturated resin, etc. and the annual PIA production quantity of LOTTE Chemical is 520,000 tons, which is first place in the global share rate. 52 billion KRW was invested in the Ulsan Plant late last year to construct equipment to convert the PTA production line for PIA.
 
Hanwha General Chemical is expected to further improve its business competitiveness by procuring a stable supplier through this supply contract. Hanwha General Chemical, which led the domestic PTA business for the past 40 years, possesses Korea’s largest PTA production facility at 2 million tons annually, and despite the supply surplus due to the new large-scale expansion in China recently, it has continued to improve its competitiveness through more cost efficiency.
 
LOTTE Chemical CEO Lim Byung-yun  said, “I believe that competitive relations can turn into cooperative relations any time due to the rapid changes in the industrial environment,” while adding, “The flexible thoughts and actions of the two companies can help not only corporate competitiveness, but also for promoting the local economy.”
 
Furthermore, Hanwha General Chemical CEO Lim Jong-hoon said, “With the petrochemical market becoming stagnant due to the global economic recession and COVID-19, this is a case in which businesses autonomously worked together to respond to industrial crises, and by overcoming the limitations of the two companies through mutual cooperation, we will continue to reinforce our business competitiveness.”