Mitsubishi, Lotte Chemical and Ineos Have Withdrawn from the PTA Business

Mitsubishi Chemical: On December 22, Mitsubishi Chemical announced a number of news, including the announcement of the planned transfer of 80% of the shares of the Indonesian subsidiary and the appointment of a new CEO and other high-level personnel.

Mitsubishi Chemical decided at an executive meeting held on the 22nd to transfer 80% of the shares of PT Mitsubishi Chemical Indonesia (MCCI) to PT Lintas Citra Pratama, which operates pure terephthalic acid (PTA) business.

MCCI has been producing and selling PTA in Indonesia since its establishment in 1991. Although the PTA market and business in Indonesia are stable and strong, the Group continues to consider its business direction while promoting portfolio management focusing on market growth, competitiveness and sustainability in accordance with the operating policy of "Forging the Future".

It is reported that an affiliate of PT Lintas CitraPratama plans to commercialize paraxylene (the main raw material of PTA) in Southeast Asia.

Lotte Chemical: Completely exiting the PTA business

Lotte Chemical announced that it plans to sell its 75.01% stake in Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LCPL) and completely withdraw from the purified terephthalic acid (PTA) business. This business divestment is part of Lotte Chemical's mid-term strategy to strengthen its high value-added specialty materials business.

LCPL is located in Port Qasim, Karachi and produces 500,000 tons of PTA annually. The company sold the business to Pakistani chemical company Lucky Core Industries (LCI) for 1.06 billion yuan. LCI mainly produces polyester, a derivative of PTA. It produces 122,000 tons of polyester polymer and 135,000 tons of polyester fiber in Lahore each year, while it produces 225,000 tons of soda ash in Heulla every year.

Lotte Chemical stated that the funds obtained from the sale of the PTA business will be used to develop the existing high value-added product markets such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate, expand the specialty chemicals business, and enter environmentally friendly materials. In July 2020, Lotte Chemical stopped producing PTA at its 600,000 tons/year plant in Ulsan, South Korea, and transformed it into a facility for the production of refined isophthalic acid (PIA). The current PIA production capacity is 520,000 tons/year.

Ineos: Announcement of closure of a PTA unit

On November 29, Ineos announced that it plans to close the smaller and older of the two PTA (purified terephthalic acid) units in its integrated PX and PTA production facility at the Hull plant in Antwerp, Belgium.

It is reported that the device has been out of production since 2022, and its long-term prospects have been reviewed for some time.

Ineos mentioned in its public news that the main reason for the shutdown of the device is that the increase in energy, raw material and labor costs has made European production less competitive with the export of newly commissioned PTA and derivatives production capacity in Asia, and the group hopes to focus more on high-end new materials.