SK Global Chemical rebrands as SK Geo Centric

South Korean petrochemical producer SK Global Chemical (SKGC) will rebrand itself as SK Geo Centric (SKGC), effective from tomorrow, as it moves to transform its business portfolio to focus more on eco-friendly products such as recyclable plastics.

SKGC plans to invest 5 trillion won ($4.3bn) by 2025 to expand technology and facilities for recycling plastics, as well as its eco-friendly material business. The company plans to increase its production capacity of eco-friendly materials to 1.9mn t/yr by 2025 from current capacity of 500,000 t/yr. It has also announced a plan to recycle 2.5mn t/yr of plastics by 2027, equivalent to 100pc of its global plastic production.

SKGC operates a naphtha-fed cracker at Ulsan that produces 680,000 t/yr of ethylene and 350,000 t/yr of propylene. It idled its older, smaller cracker at Ulsan last year after it struggled to stay competitive.

The company also operates 800,000 t/yr of paraxylene (PX) and 650,000 t/yr of benzene capacity at Ulsan, while its Ulsan Aromatics joint venture with Japanese refiner Eneos has a production capacity of 1mn t/yr of PX and 600,000 t/yr of benzene.

By Suzi Shin