Lotte Chemical, Overseas Subsidiaries Sequentially Restructured Amid Petrochemical Market Downturn

Sale of Local Partners Including Lotte Chemical Zhaoqing
Consideration of Sale of Lotte Chemical Titan Also Under Review

Lotte Chemical has been confirmed to have reorganized several overseas subsidiaries last year, focusing on the basic materials business.

According to the audit report disclosed by Lotte Chemical on the 18th, Lotte Chemical sold its shares in Lotte Chemical Zhaoqing and Lotte Chemical Samgang, basic petrochemical production plants in China, to local partners last year.

They also liquidated the Hefei subsidiary in China producing engineering plastics (EP), the Polish sales subsidiary (Lotte Chemical Poland), and the affiliate KP Chemtec, which produces PET and nylon.

Furthermore, Lotte Chemical is reportedly considering selling its subsidiary Lotte Chemical Titan (LC) in Malaysia, a large-scale production base.

Amid the deterioration of the petrochemical market due to the global economic downturn, Lotte Chemical is promoting operational efficiency in its existing petrochemical business and restructuring its business structure to focus on high value-added products. LC Titan, which produces ethylene, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), raw materials for petrochemical products, recorded an operating loss of 61.2 billion KRW last year due to decreased demand and other factors.